A Thousand Suns
by EternalVoid
Summary: Naruto is changed, Kakashi's female along with other members of the cast, and something dark lurks within Naruto's spirit.
1. Chapter 1

A Thousand Suns

_Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns, for the sins of our hand, the sins of our tongue, the sins of our father, the sins of our young..._

Prologue

He walked down the thin stone passageway, lined with pillars covered in minerals from age. The air smelt musky and old, of death and decay.

There were no sounds save for his shuffling footsteps and laboured breathing, the drops of crimson from the wounds on his face, arms, legs and chest barely heard as they hit against the cold stone surface of a place untouched by man for millennia, they each glinted red for brief fleeting moments until they struck the unforgiving surface, shining in the faint torch light.

Eventually he stepped out of the long, narrow corridor into a wide open cavern. The entire area glittered as light from a single torch was reflected a thousand times in the strange, obsidian black crystals that coated the walls. Before him lay a stone pedestal upon which sat a beautiful crystal chalice, glittering softly in the light, a strange contrast to the night black crystals that surrounded him. He moved forwards slowly, looking around the strange room, seeing faces and bodies in the crystal, as if it had consumed and transformed the dead that had fallen here into part of itself.

Eventually he stood before the chalice, in it sat a liquid, but strange indeed, as it reflected no light, indeed it seemed to be devoid of anything

'_Drink it'_ said a voice, cold and distant, scraping along the surface of his mind. He reached out with shaking hands, part of his mind telling him to stop, that something was wrong here, even as the many crystal faces, preserved forever in this dark tomb, seemed to watch him with their empty eye sockets.

He lifted the chalice gently, a pure tone filled the air as he lifted it from its place, the tone reflected and enhanced a thousand times as the crystals on the wall seemed to sing in harmonious chorus as if to celebrate this moment. He sniffed the liquid, it smelt of nothing. The only thing he could smell, was the scent of decay, age, and death that filled this place.

He lifted it slowly to his lips and drank, a biting, hideous cold seemed to burn his mouth and throat and fill his very body. The strange night liquid held no taste, no scent, and no texture of its own. He suddenly stiffened as pain racked him, the chalice falling from his hands as he himself fell to his knees, the pain unbearable in all respects.

The chalice shattered on the cold, hard, unforgiving ground, and the sound of a thousand bells seemed to fill the once silent cavern, a cacophony of noise consuming the once dead silent chamber. It was the last thing he heard as he tipped over, head striking the ground softly. The seemingly thousands of brilliant shards of the once whole crystal chalice fell like small stars, glittering softly in the pale light of the single torch, that, was the last thing he saw, the one shard striking the ground and shattering into a thousand more, brilliant, sparkling, pieces.

He awoke out in the open air, light blinding him for a few brief moments as he opened his eyes. He shut them again before taking a deep breath of the clean, fresh air that dominated the forests around Konoha before his eyes snapped out once more, hands darting over his body as he tried to locate the wounds that no longer appeared to be present.

He slumped back onto the cool grass and sighed, allowing the wind to softly caress him for a few moments longer before struggling to stand.

He had staggered, dragging himself out of that dark cave, clutching a tattered and worn old book in his hands, he remembered slipping and falling a good ways down a smooth slope. And now, looking up, it curved away from him gently, the ledge far above his head covered in mosses and a few scattered trees. He sighed and turned away, leaning down, still confused and unsure he picked up the book he had stumbled out with, he looked at it more closely now, stroking the leather that protected it from time and decay. There was something special about this book, he could feel it in his gut, and his gut feeling was always right about such things.

He looked away from the book and into the forest, trying to gauge his position relative to Konoha itself, the trees here were fairly widely spaced, more so that the forest where he had made his home. He frowned, guessing he was maybe two miles or so out. What fun, he thought to himself, how easy it is to run so fast when fear is all that drives you. With that dark thought at the forefront of his mind he began the walk back, forgoing his usual method of jumping in favour of relaxation. The book still clutched tightly in his hand as he walked off into the light of the forest.

The light was warm, despite the shade provided by the trees and the slow setting of the sun, it cast long, drawn out shadows on the ground was he walked. The air was cooling now, losing its warmth despite the suns warming rays and soon darkness would descend on the great forest once more.

He arrived at his home with a sigh, it was little more that a cave underneath a great tree's roots, it was listing to one side, providing the perfect shelter during the rain and cold nights that so often accompanied Konoha's beautiful days.

He walked inside, crouching slightly before straightening up once inside. It was a simple affair to be sure, a futon sat in one corner of the room by which sat a pile of scrolls, filled with information and knowledge that he was slowly reading his way through. In the centre sat an indented place in the ground surrounded by stones where a small fire sat, slowly dying as it burned itself out, and casting a flickering light over the rest of the cave, making the shadows dance.

Naruto groaned as he moved over to the fire, piling some more logs onto it he basked in its warmth for a few moments. Reached down he pulled the book up and opened it before beginning to read.

Chapter One

The sun was high in the sky, casting short shadows that offered little shade from the heat of its rays, and as a consequence there were few people wandering the dry, dusty streets of Konoha. The wind caught the dust, bringing it into swirling vortexes of wind, dust and little else. The air was bone dry and no relief from the heat seemed to be forthcoming, the sky was a piercing azure blue with not a cloud blemishing its seemingly smooth surface.

Gently warming light flowed in through the windows of the shop as a soft breeze flowed in through the open door. The light seemed to reflect throughout the small shop, the wood seeming to glow warmly with its own internal light, illuminating the entire room in a soft radiance. Kakashi and Anko were sitting around one of four tables situated beside the large windows, Kakashi was watching the world go slowly on by while Anko stuffed herself full of her favourite food as the waitress, a pretty little thing with brown hair and a soft manner, collected Anko's _third _order and brought it over, placing it on the dull mahogany table, bowing to the two ninja's before walking off to go deal with another order.

"I can't believe you're going to have to teach the Uchiha bastard" Anko said to Kakashi while swiftly finishing off another stick of dango

"Tell me about it" the other woman replied, head in her hands.

It was general practise for certain jonin's to, at least once in their career, take on a team of three newly graduated ninjas and train them up to be the next generation of fighters for Konoha. However many jonin's loathed this duty, mainly because they had to deal usually with snot-nosed brats who knew little about what it actually took to be a ninja, as such many avoided it like some sort of plague and even went so far as to go into Anbu in order to avoid it and the problems it usually brought upon them.

This in itself was unusual for a hidden village. Many other villages held no such idealism in their ranks, and the understanding that a ninja's path is one soaked in blood was drilled into the kids from day one. Unlike Konoha who had the unfortunate habit of coddling them until their time came, it is probably a surprise, therefore, that Konoha is the strongest of the five major powers in the world. Though some would sooner claim that it was out of luck than anything else, it is after all, easier to be lucky than good.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen, Kakashi thought to herself as she looked over at her long time friend. Anko was wearing her usual fishnet shirt and dark trench coat, her leather skirt held up by a belt of the same dark brown as the coat. Kakashi watched Anko devour another stick of dango, her dark brown eyes closing in pleasure as she ate, Kakashi just sighed and thumped her head on the table once again

"Fucking politicians" she groaned, Anko just swallowed her food before grinning at Kakashi

"Aww, don't worry Kakashi-chan, I'm sure it won't be _too_ bad" she said sarcastically, patting Kakashi on her shoulder. Kakashi just glared at her through her one eye, Anko's grin just grew as she leaned back away from Kakashi before the other women decided to kill her

"What did I do to deserve this?" Kakashi asked, sounding despondent as Anko just continued to grin at her friends' misfortune.

The tightly packed buildings towered over him as he moved through the dusty and windswept streets of Konoha, taking solace in the empty streets, the shadows of the buildings neatly tucked under each other. The silence would have been deafening to all but him. He could, after all, hear the conversations whispered on the breeze.

How naive, he thought to himself, to believe that all there will ever be is peace here.

He strode down the empty streets with purpose in his step; he knew he should have been at the academy today, just as he should be every other day he had missed. But such things seemed irrelevant to him nowadays, especially the academy.

That was when he walked pasted the shop where Anko and Kakashi sat talking, he did not bother to look inside as usual.

"Look Kakashi-chan" Anko said to Kakashi suddenly, breaking into the woman's own thoughts

"Hmm..." she groaned, pulling her head up and looking out of the window. Watching as one Uzumaki Naruto walked past the window, blonde hair blowing back in the breeze, his azure eyes fixed firmly forwards. Kakashi's eyes followed him until she lost sight of him as he turned down another street

"He's not too bad" Anko said to Kakashi who groaned

"Yeah..." she said, trailing off, putting her head in her arms "but even if I get him that won't make up for the other two imbeciles" she said and Anko laughed heartily before poking Kakashi in the head, making said woman look up at her

"Haven't you got to get to the briefing soon?" she asked with a bit of mirth, laughing as Kakashi just groaned again.

The clearing was like many others situated both inside and out of Konoha. The grass felt cool underneath his bare feet and he found himself sighing in both relief and satisfaction of having finally finding a empty place to begin. Small flowers bloomed everywhere he looked, a truly beautiful scene with a multitude of colours and tones that would have been a painter's idea of a beautifully serene scene. However even the plants themselves look tired and ragged, this intense heat that had prevailed for the last week or so causing the plants to seemingly wilt under the harsh gaze of the sun.

Trees surrounded the flowering field, great oaks and birches, stood strong despite the heat, their leaves blending together into a collage of many shades of green. Naruto sighed, taking a deep breath in of the fresh air, it smelt clean, pure and of the many flowers now blossoming around him.

Time to get started, he thought to himself, somewhat apprehensively. He sighed, taking slow, deep breaths as he concentrated on the energy sitting deep, deep within him; beyond his chakra system and deeper still until he grasped its biting coldness and opened his eyes. Where they had once been a cold, focused azure blue now they were night black, however unlike that pitch black liquid all those years ago, they reflected the light and life around him.

He held both hands out, the metal plates on the back of the black fingerless gloves glinting in the strong sunlight as he focused. His thoughts focused on the task that lay before him and slowly he began to push the power outwards to an imaginary point in front of him.

At first nothing happened. But slowly the wind began to grow stronger and stronger around him, rustling the many leaves of the trees and sending the grass swaying as petals from the many flowers around him were pulled away and drawn up and around in the air, surrounding him in a glorious display of colours and splendour.

Then suddenly a solid black dot seemed to appear in midair, hanging their as if held by some invisible hand. And slowly it began to grow, slowly at first but soon it expanding exponentially, like some great pitch black balloon it expanded to the height of a normal human being before stopping.

It was a perfect black circle, Naruto peered around it and his eyes widened. Looking on directly from the side it was a simple line. The object in front of him was perfectly 2-d and flat as if it sat against some invisible barrier. It seemed to however an inch or two above the ground like a great hole cut into the fabric of reality itself. Naruto stepped back, getting his breathing back under control as something began to happen.

A hand, made only of bone, reached through the great hole. It seemed to struggle, grabbing onto the 'doorway' as if something else was trying to tug it back into wherever it was arriving from. Then slowly, very slowly, as if the rest of its body was moving through viscous tar, it began to pull itself through. The head eventually poked through, it seemed to grunt as it finally stepped fully out of the portal and stood in front of Naruto.

It was truly a sight to behold. The thing that stepped out of the black hole in space looked like a larger than life man who had had all of his mortal flesh stripped from his bare bones. It stood at about eight feet tall, its empty eye sockets seemed to look through Naruto and he had to suppress a shiver at that chilling thought. It was covered in some kind of old rusty metal armour, and even the sword at its side looked rusted beyond use. Great bony spikes rose from its shoulder blades, elbows, and heels of its feet, the ones on its chest looked as if they had been driven in. Naruto also had a suspicion that claws like sharp steel were hidden in the gauntlets, the sight of them poking through the holes in the tips of its gauntlets made him shiver. It looked more human than Naruto had originally expected, though now he was thinking that maybe, just maybe, it was around half way between a transformation between class one and two.

The great skeleton slowly looked around; at least, it moved its head slowly from side to side before settling its 'gaze' back on Naruto who stood there, watching it with a look that almost seemed to be a mild form of respect

"Mortal" it said, its voice raspy and almost monotone, it spoke in a virtual whisper so Naruto had to strain his ears to hear it over the breeze that was only just settling down. However the great doorway seemed to be trying to pull the air towards it, petals would move towards it only to dance around it and then be blown back out.

The creature seemed to incline its head slightly and Naruto got the feeling that if it had flesh on its face then it would be narrowing its eyes and frowning slightly in thought

"Yes, the darkness dwells within you" it finally said in that soft monotone, lifting its head "your name mortal" it said, Naruto bowed slightly to it

"Naruto" he said, raising himself once more as the creature seemed to think for a moment

"Hmm, very well...Naruto...you are the first true summoner in over a millennia in this world" it said and Naruto inclined his head once more

"I am aware of this" he said before locking 'eyes' with the creature in front of him "I shall presume that a partial level two demon would understand why I summoned it, especially one who can articulate as well as yourself" he said and the creatures head moved back in what, Naruto thought, appeared to be slight shock

"Oh, so you know of the classes' system mortal" it said, looking at Naruto again "very good, you did not do this lightly, that much is obvious. However I am afraid I cannot do what you wish" it said and Naruto raised an eyebrow in question

"If I were to do that now then I believe you would cease to be" the creature explained, Naruto frowned but nodded

"Very well, then I shall let you go" Naruto said, spreading his hands in front of him, the creature inclined its head once and then turned to leave

"I shall inform the higher ones of this development, mainly for fear of my continued existence" the thing said, putting one hand through the hole it turned once more to 'look' at Naruto "good luck, Naruto" was all it said before stepping back through the portal that seemed to crack before shattering like glass into a thousand splinters and shards that evaporated and vanished into thin air.

The sky was beginning to slowly darken. The uppermost most part was slowing turning a deep, oceanic blue while nearer the horizon; the light slowly turned lighter blue until it was almost green before changing into light oranges and gentle reds. The few clouds that hovered in the slowly darkening night sky were lit on one side of themselves, slants of light seeming to pass through the clouds as they stood still in the windless skies, promising no hope of rain.

The Hokage tower stood in the centre of the village, and at six stories tall it easily towered over all other buildings in the town. The outside of the tower was painted gentle beige that tried not to reflect the light, and on the side that faced away from the great Hokage Mountain, where the faces of the last Hokage's gazed down over the village, sat a great painted emblem, the Kanji for fire.

Inside the tower, nearer the top of the great structure, was the Hokage's office. Light dyed a reddish orange poured in through the massive window that consumed most of the far wall. It illuminated the great oak desk that sat nearly in front of it and the many piles of paper that sat upon it. The desk, despite its many scratches and dents and many other signs of age, had nonetheless been present in this room ever since the first Hokage had taken up office here.

The dark green floor coupled with the beige walls provided little illumination from the dimming orange light casting the room the furthest part of the room, nearer the door, in darkness as the elongated shadows from the desk and windows reached over to it as if seeking to escape.

It was in here, near the top of the great building, that Kakashi was now in. She was leaning against the wall looking out of the great window behind the Hokage's desk, out of which she could see the village and the brightly coloured sky that was slowly bleeding of light as the sun dipped behind the great forest that surround Konoha, shrouding the forest in light and blurring it against the sky around the sun.

The room was full of other jonin's, all talking amongst themselves about the teams and possible students they were looking forward, or not, to getting a hold of

"So Kakashi-san" Asuma said as he walked over to her "I hear your getting the Uchiha on your team" he said, blowing out a cloud of smoke as he did so. Kakashi wrinkled her nose at the disgusting odour of the thing before frowning

"Yeah, sodding council wants me to teach him, mainly because I'm the only last loyal ninja of Konoha with a sharingan eye and the knowledge of how to use it" she explained, not bothering to hide her distaste of the boy, the lower ninjas may treat him like some sort of god but Kakashi and the other older ninjas knew better

"Yeah" Asuma said almost absentmindedly "I don't envy you that job" he said with a small grin and she growled lowly at him

"Well gee, thanks for the vote of confidence" she said, he just grinned and walked away, leaving Kakashi there shaking her head and looking none too pleased.

Eventually the Hokage arrived, walking through the door each jonin immediately stood at attention before him as he sat behind the oak desk with a heavy sigh. His slightly wrinkled face seemed to relax as he sat down, though some tension could still be seen in his body by the older ninja. They waited patiently as he filled his pipe with tobacco before lighting it and taking a slow, deep breath of the stuff. Breathing it out just as slowly before his still sharp dark brown eyes opened, looking over each of them carefully, making some of the newer jonin's fidget uncomfortably at the piercing gaze

"You may be at ease" he said at length and they all relaxed as one, moving back to their original positions as the Hokage took out a stack of papers. Kakashi took a moment to look Sarutobi over, he still had his short grey goatee and short spiky hair, and the three lines running down under each eye, which seemed to be extremely focused at the moment, as if a smouldering fire sat behind them, waiting to be lit once more.

"Okay then" he said, leaning forwards, hands folded in front of him as he looked over each of them "who would like to begin?" he asked, Asuma sighed and stepped forwards

"I would like to take on a team comprised of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji" he said and the Hokage nodded slowly

"Hmm, very well, the council should be happy as well" he said, muttering the last part under his breath, Kakashi still heard him though. She watched as Asuma turned stepped back to be replaced by Kurenai, winking at Kurenai who rolled her eyes in exasperation at him, standing at attention in front of the leader.

"I would like to lead a team composed of Hinata, Kiba and Shino" she said, the Hokage thought for a few moments before nodding. Kakashi knew what he would be doing now, he would be looking through it all in his mind now, examining the team dynamics and anticipating if any major problems would arise, including any dissatisfaction from the council.

"Very well" he said, she nodded, turned away and stepped back

"Kakashi-san?" the Hokage asked her and she sighed before stepping up in front of him

"I will take on Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura...and Uzumaki Naruto" she said, some whispers broke out among those jonin not taking on teams but were silenced by the Hokage's glance to them

"Very well, but you realise the council will not like the idea of Uzumaki-san being with the Uchiha" he told her, she frowned, but was sure the Hokage could see the light of defiance behind her eyes. Knowing she was the last sharingan user in Konoha meant that she was given a good amount of leeway with regards to these sorts of things.

"With all due respect sir, I don't think there's much they can do about it" she said stiffly, the Hokage just smiled

"Very well then, dismissed!" he said loudly, the jonin's disappearing from the office in the blink of an eye.

Naruto was walking back from the forest clearing, frowning slightly to himself about what the creature had said. The wind caressed his bare chest as his jacket flared open for a few moments before settling down again as the breeze passed him.

"Hey, Naruto-kun!" he heard someone call out, he turned around to see Anko leaning out of a shops doorway, waving at him

"What is it Anko-chan?" he asked as he walked over to her, ignoring the mutterings and supposed muted whispers of the general public

"Come in here" she said, grabbing him by the collar of his mesh shirt and dragging him inside with no small amount of force. Naruto did not bother to struggle, simply allowing her to pull him inside the shop and force him to sit beside her, Kakashi just sat there looking slightly amused at the whole thing.

"Good afternoon Naruto-kun" Kakashi greeted him, as Anko pushed him roughly into the seat beside hers before taking her seat beside him, grinning at him like a mischievous child with her eyes closed. Naruto just rolled his eyes despite the small smile on his face and faced Kakashi instead

"Hmm...if you say so" he responded, sounding quite bland, Kakashi just chuckled at his response and looked back out of the window

"So Anko-chan" he said, making Anko face him, a stick of dango hanging out of her mouth as she looked at him

"Hmm?" she asked, almost looking too innocent

"Why'd you drag me in here?" he asked her as she swallowed her food and took the stick out of her mouth before shrugging

"For the hell of it" she said, Naruto just sighed and looked towards Kakashi who was snickering as him

"Oh yeah" she suddenly said "you'll be on my team starting tomorrow, Naru-kun" she said, Naruto groaned and smacked his head on the table

"Fucking hell" he muttered. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his response though a flash of hurt passed behind her eyes "bloody Uchiha" he continued and Kakashi almost seemed to sigh in response a reaction Anko did not miss. She grinned at her; Kakashi gave her a light glare back in warning.

"Tough luck Naru-kun" Anko chirped while smiling brightly at him, he glared at her half-heartedly, swiping one of her dango sticks and eating it before she could make a move to stop him

"Oi~!" she whined, Naruto smirked at her

"Tough luck Anko-chan" he said, mimicking her in a whiny tone of voice. Anko frowned and pouted like a little kid, making both Kakashi and Naruto chuckle at her.

The air was cold this early in the morning as Naruto strode down the road towards the ninja academy. Dawn was just starting to break and the sky above him was lit up with brilliant oranges and light reds as rays of light slanted down through the sapphire sky. The faintest stars in the sky had long since been submerged in the slowly brightening vault and barely a handful still twinkled high in the dark sky above. The few large clouds that were beginning to form shone from within as the light forced its way through them, setting the edges of the clouds alight as the sun slowly rose up from the horizon.

Naruto looked down the slowly brightening street. The sunlight casting long shadows from building to building in front of him. The silence of the early morning air was broken only by the birds that had begun to sing not more than twenty minutes ago, their sweet songs brought to him by the soft breeze that swept gently down the empty street, and caressed his face and chest with a tender coolness that made him smile.

The academy sat near the Hokage tower, it was a rectangular building three stories tall and built of sandy coloured bricks that softly glowed in the early morning light. The windows glinted in the light, their reflections illuminating patches of the sandy ground as the wind seemed to pick some of the dust and sand up and twirl it around playfully before putting it down and moving on to another patch of ground.

The roof of the building was where Naruto was heading for now though. Lined with a dull metal railing it was perfectly flat the whole way across save for two access points on the roof itself. Every so often a bench was placed next to the railing, facing away from the sun.

To the side away from the Hokage tower sat a mass of trees like those that already surrounded Konoha. That was where the weapons training and other such things took place. Often Naruto had traversed that area after school and found a wealth of perfectly good weaponry simply left behind by those who could easily afford to replace such things by the next day or so.

Eventually Naruto made his way up to the roof where he leant against the railing and looked outwards over the town and watched the sun rise. Letting the wind blow his dull blonde hair back he sighed gently and closed his eyes, his thoughts slowing and settling down until he was relaxed once again, his thoughts seeming to blow away in the soft breeze that stirred the trees around the academy grounds and sent a few birds flapping up into the cool air where they twirled and danced like shadowed silhouettes against the bright sun before diving back into the forest canopy.

How peaceful, Naruto thought to himself as he stood there, and oh how so very fragile it all is. His thoughts took a turn to something slightly darker but he brought himself out and back to simply enjoying the view before all the stupidity began once again.

It was noisy, Naruto decided, far too noisy.

He was sitting in his usual classroom with classmates he had attended the last year of academy with, all of whom were chatting energetically with each other. All present were happy at having passed their exams and been selected for a team.

"...is the best, I knew he'd pass!" came Sakura's voice, floating above the rest

"No, I did!" shouted her rival Ino

"Be quite you two, I'm trying to sleep here" Shikamaru muttered lazily, thankful that neither of the two girls had heard him over the din of the classroom

"Good luck getting those two to be quite, especially over the Uchiha" Kiba said then muttered under his breath, also fearful of the girl's wrath

"It would not be wise to antagonise them, Kiba-san" Shino said from behind his coats high collar in his usual monotonous voice

"Hmm" Choji agreed amongst the chomping of chips

"But I was here first" Sakura shouted

"No I was"

"Here we go again-"

"But I-"

"No I was-"

"...bloody annoying-"

"I'm telling you Shino, she had the-"

Naruto realised he had slipped into one of those sorts of trances he was used too when in class. He often found, looking back, that he could remember everything that was said and by whom, however usually struggled to place it in context...

"Alright class!" boomed Iruka as he walked in, he had short black hair that covered his ears and a long scar that ran over the bridge of his nose and across part of either side of his face. His skin was lightly tanned from the intense sun, like so many Konoha citizens. He wore the standard Konoha Chunin uniform, consisting of a black shirt and trousers along with a headband and a loose leaf green jacket with the fire symbol sewn onto the back in red. The chattering stopped almost instantly as everyone eagerly awaited their sensei's

"Now" Iruka said as he placed a load of papers down onto the desk before looking at them all

"I am glad to of taught each of you" he said, smiling slightly "and I pray you all stay safe for the rest of your time in your ninja career, your team sensei's will be here to pick you all up shortly, but before that I shall read out the teams" he said as he picked up one of the sheets.

Naruto resumed looking out of the window. People scurried up and down the street that led up to the academy. What a fool, Naruto though solemnly to himself, to believe that a ninja's life is built of anything but hardship and pain. He was aware that Iruka knew otherwise, but chose not to dwell on it.

"Okay then" Iruka called out, snapping Naruto's attention back to the classroom "These are the teams..." Naruto zoned out once again, preferring to dwell on his own torrent of thoughts than whose team he was to be on, of course though, he was already aware of whose team he was on thanks to Kakashi.

"...team seven shall be composed of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto-" Iruka was cut off by Sakura jumping out of her seat and pointing a manicured finger at Ino

"Ha!" she shouted "true love conquers all!" she shouted. Iruka coughed and glared at her, she sat down meekly, though still looking quite happy at the news

"Your sensei will be Kakashi-san" he finished his sentence and the list off before looking at them all "once again I wish you good luck" he said, inclining his head to them before walking out of the room as their sensei's began to walk into the room.

First to enter was Asuma, a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth as he surveyed the teams present with almost warm brown eyes. He wore a standard Konoha ninja uniform with a flak jacket and regular shinobi sandals.

"Team ten with me!" he shouted out and out came Ino, Shikamaru and Choji whom he smiled at before leading them out of the room, next up was Kurenai

Kurenai had long flowing black hair and ruby red eyes that seemed to look right through you if you stared for too long; they were only made more prominent by the purple eyeliner that surrounded them. She was wearing mesh armour and a red blouse which only had the right sleeve still attached; around both hands were wrapped bandages.

"Damn..." Kiba said, or rather was all he was able to say, before Naruto pulled his chair back with his foot, causing Kiba to land flat on his ass much to the amusement of the whole class, Kurenai, and his own dog Akamaru

"Damn it Naruto" he hissed as he stood up while trying to look as threatening as possible, Naruto just looked at him with bored eyes

"Alright that's enough" Kurenai said, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention back to the front of the room

"Team eight with me!" and with that Hinata and Shino stood up, making their way out of the room with their sensei, Kiba trailing after, muttering something and shooting Naruto dark glances. No one noticed the look of appreciation Kurenai had sent Naruto just as she left the room.

Finally in walked Kakashi. She hand spiky silver hair and an eye patch covering her left eye, upon it was a silver swirl and the symbol of fire. She had mesh armour on with a sleeveless black jacket covering it, and over each arm were long leather gloves with metal plated on the back of the hands and forearms. Her toned muscles could easily be seen and despite her lazy demur the sight easily radiated power from her

"Team seven follow me to the roof" she said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"So then" Kakashi said as she observed her three 'charges' "how about we all introduce ourselves?" she asked them, trying to sound enthusiastic and failing rather miserably.

Naruto was leaning up against the dull metal railing that ran around the entire roofs edge which glinted in the light of the late morning sun. Having risen fully now it had finally chased away what few stars had been left and the day was rapidly warming up now

The other two members of team seven were sitting on the bench next to where Naruto was standing, with Sasuke trying to sit as far away as possible from Sakura who was looking at him with a look of extreme adoration.

Kakashi took another look at Naruto out of the corner of her one eye, watching as his blonde hair waved fractionally in the soft breeze that had sprung up a little while back. He was looking over Konoha though he was not really seeing it, per se; he would be lost in his own thoughts, as he was so often these days.

"You go first Kakashi-chan" he said out of thin air when it became clear the other members of the team were not going to add anything sensible or otherwise to the conversation that Kakashi was trying to initiate. She sighed

"Fine then, my name is Hatake Kakashi" she said, sounding as bored as she looked as Naruto smirked though they couldn't see "my likes are none of business, and neither are my dislikes, my dream...is also none of your business" she said, smiling at them underneath the face mask. Sasuke looked slightly twitchy by now and Sakura was looking at Kakashi with her mouth open. Naruto just continued to look out over the town

"Go on then pinky" she then said, pointing at Sakura who balked at the insult for a second before speaking

"Fine, my name is Haruno Sakura and I like..." she looked at Sasuke dreamily who was watching her out of the corner of his eye as he backed away slightly "I dislike..." she shot a look at Naruto, not noticing Kakashi's faint frown at that even as Naruto seemed apathetic "my dream is..." once again she looked at Sasuke before giggling like a stereotypical schoolgirl and blushing slightly. Kakashi wanted to smack her head against the wall and was thankful for the mask as it hid her slightly open mouth, so shocked at the girl that she was.

"...okay" she said slowly, turning to Sasuke "dark one, go" she said. Sasuke scoffed but did as he was told

"Fine, my name is Uchiha Sasuke" he said, sounding slightly arrogant at just his name and Kakashi didn't miss Naruto's slight shift at that "I have few likes" he said, eye's darkening "and many dislikes, and I have no dreams, only an ambition...to kill a certain man" he said. Sakura seemed to think he was even more 'cool' now if the look in her eyes was anything to go by while Naruto scoffed softly at the whole thing.

Overdramatic much, Kakashi thought to herself as she turned to the last of their little group

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto said before she could even open her mouth "I like Kakashi, Anko and Kurenai, and perhaps training" he said while never moving, always looking out over Konoha "I have quite a few dislikes, which I don't feel the need to tell you" he said, and Kakashi watched as his posture seemed to tense slightly "I have few dreams, some grander than others..." he seemed to trail off, the air growing chilly all of a sudden "but you don't need to know that either" he finished.

Kakashi sighed and closed her eyes. It was not the first time she had seen Naruto in such a state, it happened often now whenever he thought about the past or the future he seemed to envision. Kakashi wasn't overly concerned, everyone in their little group had their problems, hell, the vast majority of older ninja all had some sort of habit or problem connected to their past

"Alright then people" she said, clapping her hands to get their attention, though she doubted Naruto's had waned even for a moment "we will be meeting tomorrow at training ground eight, at seven sharp, don't be late" she said before disappearing. Naruto groaned as he straightened up before he too, vanished in a swirl of leaves.

_**The End**_

_**Please Read and Review.**_

_**Also be aware that all the ideas I will be posting from now on may not be updated...  
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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The air was warm, wrapping around one like an almost unwelcome and uncomfortably warm blanket, the sky was as clear and crisp as always with only the faintest wisps of cloud hanging overhead.

Today was like any other day, with the teams of young ninja graduates working random chores throughout the village.

Kakashi was leaning lazily against the fence that went round the entire overgrown garden where her team were methodically pulling weeds out from the sun-baked ground. She watched with mild amusement as Sakura struggled with a particularly stubborn weed before falling flat on her ass, adding to the dust already coating her clothes. Sasuke was trying to stay cool despite the roasting sun, the sweat was obvious but his own stubbornness would probably have him passing out before the mission was over. Meanwhile Naruto was working like some sort of machine, he'd long ago removed his jacket and shirt, revealing toned muscle that had a healthy tan colour to it, and had set to work heartily, clearing up three or four times more weeds than the other two. Kakashi was always amazed at how much energy Naruto seemed to have bubbling away under his clam exterior, his stamina didn't seem to have a limit either...her mind decided to trail off at that moment.

Naruto looked over at Kakashi and grinned as he saw a small amount of blood trickle out of her nose, he'd keep the information for blackmail later, and yes, he was evil like that. He created two clones and set them to work as he walked over to Kakashi while wiping the sweat away from his forehead; he stood beside her as he pulled a small towel out from his bag. Kakashi just raised an eyebrow as Naruto sighed and leaned back against the fence with the towel around his shoulders, sweat glistening off of his body

"You're not going to join in Kakashi-chan?" he asked her with a small grin, she snorted and shook her head

"Not likely" she said and Naruto chuckled at her response before sighing and lying down on the cool grass

"You going to train them?" he asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence, Kakashi sighed

"Yeah" she said, not sounding to thrilled while Naruto just chuckled again at her unwillingness

"Good luck getting them to listen" he said and she glared at him

"Gee, don't offer to help or anything then" she said sarcastically

"I won't" he said cheerfully and she shook her head despite the small smile on her face

"How's Anko-chan been?" he asked and she raised an eyebrow at him before looking back to Sakura and Sasuke

"Same old same old, she's enjoying her job at IT a bit too much though, she needs to take some time out I think" Kakashi responded and Naruto grunted in agreement

"Think we should ask the Hokage on her behalf?"

"No, that would just annoy her, you know how she is" Kakashi responded and Naruto shook his head exasperatedly

"Damned woman" he muttered making Kakashi giggle.

The next day was more pleasant, the heat was offset by a rather cool breeze much to the teams' collective relief. Naruto was walking alongside Kakashi as they made their way towards the Inuzuka estate with both Sasuke and Sakura trailing behind them being quiet for once.

"So..." Naruto said "what are we doing again?" he asked Kakashi who looked at him with a mild glare

"Weren't you listening to the briefing?" she asked him. He looked at her with a deadpan expression

"What do you think?" he asked causing her to shake her head in mild amusement.

"We're going to help them with looking after their dogs and run a few errands for them as many of their members are off on missions at the moment" she explained to him. Naruto hummed in response as they drew closer to the main gate

"It's going to be a long day Kakashi-chan" he said and she hung her head in defeat

"Bastard" she muttered as he laughed.

They eventually made it to the estate and were greeted by two guards.

The estate itself was of a fairly good size, of around several acres, however their actual training territory stretched beyond this. Their buildings were fairly spread out roughly in the centre of the large plot of land which was fairly unusual for a clan of either this size or status.

"Welcome Kakashi-san" they said, bowing slightly and Kakashi laughed, feeling embarrassed

"Hey, team seven reporting for a mission" she said and they nodded before letting them pass into the clans estate. They made their way to the main building which was rather unassuming in its size, unlike many other clans, and had a kennel attached to one side of the ground floor. It was built out of wood as many of the building in Konoha were and therefore was done in a very classic Japanese style, with low sloping roofs that flicked up at the corners, despite the clans reputation.

Kakashi knocked and waited a few moments before the door was opened by a young woman with light brown hair done up in a pony-tail that fell just passed her shoulder blades, with bangs hanging on either side of her face, her dark brown eyes just glanced them all over before she stepped forwards and embraced Kakashi in a friendly, if tight, hug

"Kakashi-chan" she said happily, smiling at the silver haired woman as she stepped back "I haven't seen you in ages" she said and Kakashi closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her head in a show of embarrassment.

"Ah, sorry about that but now I'm stuck teaching the brats behind me" she said, jabbing a finger behind her at team seven. Sasuke bristled as did Sakura while Naruto just smirked while still managing to look somewhat bored. Hana chuckled softly.

"Come in, we'll get you started on your jobs shortly" she said before walking off, presumably to go find her mother, the clan head. Team seven just stood there in the entrance, waiting and unsure of what to do, Naruto sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose

"I smell dog" he said bluntly and Kakashi looked at him blandly

"They are a clan specialising in dogs you know" she said and Naruto looked back at her with the same expression

"And?" he asked with the same level of enthusiasm. Before the conversation, if you want to call it that, could proceed any further however Hana returned with the clan head.

While Hana's features looked rather soft, her mother's were quite feral, with slit-like eyes around which dark markings stood out against her skin, she held the same clan markings on her cheeks as Hana, obviously, and her elongated canines could be seen when she greeted them

"So, you're the lot who'll be helping out today then?" she asked with a slightly feral grin "my name's Tsume and I hope you're all hard workers" she said, Naruto chuckled softly, not quite loud enough for even her sensitive ears to pick up

"Uh, their alright I suppose" Kakashi said, mostly talking about the other two and hoping, somewhat, that she hadn't offended Naruto in some way, if only because she didn't want her house bombed with neon pink paint.

"Hmm, alright then" Tsume said, still sporting that grin that seemed to make both Sasuke and Sakura cringe slightly in fear while Naruto seemed impervious to its effects. "Two of you need to go and help 'clean' out the kennels, while the other goes with my daughter here to go get some things from the town" she said. Naruto yawned softly, catching her attention

"Am I boring you?" she asked, a slight hint of feral amusement in her voice even as Naruto just smile at her

"Not at all Inuzuka-san, it's just that I was up late last night"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, D-ranks don't seem to leave much time for training" he told her, she raised an eyebrow but seemed satisfied with his answer before suddenly realising something

"Did you just say 'san'?" she asked him with a edge of warning in her voice, Naruto just nodded while yawning again, covering his mouth with his hand this time.

"Yep" he said without a hint of apology in his voice. Sasuke and Sakura backed off as she walked up to Naruto who still seemed unaffected

"And why" she said "do you think I'll let you get away with that?" she asked him and he looked her straight in the eye

"Because we're similar kinds of people" he told her. She backed off before grinning and slapping Naruto on the back and turning to Kakashi

"I like this kid" she said as Kakashi blinked. "Anyway, you can go and help my daughter, the other two can have the...'cleaning' duty" she said, the other two looked ready to protest until Kakashi shot them both a warning look. They hung their heads as Tsume walked out with them following, heads hung in defeat.

"Well then" Hana spoke up, getting their attention "lets go then" she said before walking out without so much as a backwards glance at the two of them. Naruto just grinned at Kakashi

"See you" he said before darting after Hana, leaving Kakashi to watch over the other two, much to her chagrin.

The town was quiet this early in the morning, an interesting contrast to how it would be in little more than an hour when all the civilians finally got up and started about their days.

The heat was just about bearable in the shade of the buildings as the sun rose higher and higher into the blue vault of the sky.

Naruto was walking next to Hana down one of the, usually; more busy streets and he had a suspicion of exactly where they would be going

"...so no, I don't care much for either of them" he said as they turned a corner

"Really?" Hana asked him slightly incredulously "they are your teammates you know?"

"And?" he responded "they don't care for me and so I won't care for them. I'm not a saint you know?" he told her as they slipped into a little known backstreet that was filled with shops providing you knew where to look and had the right ID.

"Hmm, I suppose I can see where you're coming from. Anyway, how come you and Kakashi-chan get on so well?" she asked, changing the subject as they slipped into an apparently normal house only to find it filled with all manner of pills, food and the like for animals and humans alike.

"I met her a while ago and I suppose we just saw eye to eye" he told her. She hummed, obviously not completely buying the white lie but not bothering to pursue it any further

"Fine, don't tell me then" she said, pouting despite the fact that he couldn't see her face as she looked through to products on display.

"I won't Inuzuka-san" he replied with some humour in his voice as he hung back and let her work

"Don't call me that kid, it makes me feel old" she said and Naruto had to restrain himself from commenting on the 'old' part of her comment.

"Fine then Hana-san" he said, she smiled.

They were walking back when Kakashi caught up to them looking rather despondent

"Fucking brats..." she muttered darkly as she slipping in beside Hana, Naruto being behind her due to the rather large number of fairly heavy bags he was carrying.

"Having a good time Kakashi-chan?" Hana asked sweetly, Kakashi just glared balefully before looking back at Naruto who, despite the weight of the bags, didn't appear to be either struggling or complaining

"How was it with him?" she asked in return, pointing her thumb at Naruto

"I can here you Kakashi-chan!" he said loudly enough to catch some people's attention and possibly make Kakashi colour with embarrassment as Hana laughed at her expense

"He's fun, and quite the solider" she told Kakashi who nodded

"He's quite something isn't he?" Kakashi asked

"I'll say" Hana replied as they both looked at him before looking back "I asked him to do the thing in two trips but he insisted, well, that and I wanted to see him live up to him boasting that he'd find it no trouble at all" she told Kakashi who chuckled

"That sounds like him. He seems to have a habit of turning almost anything into some kind of training, whether physical or otherwise" she told Hana who seemed to watch Naruto with no small amount of respect now.

They eventually arrived back at the main clan compound where Naruto gladly offloaded the bags and collapsed around the side of the house where one of the many kennels were that Sasuke and Sakura were cleaning out.

Naruto huffed as he sat down a little in front of Hana and Kakashi, having taken his shirt off due to the heat he lay down and sighed, feeling the soft grass tickle his sweaty back as the sun warmed his body, not that it needed to. While Kakashi and Hana took seats behind him though Kakashi also lay down while Hana rested with her hands behind her.

Hana's eyes locked onto his muscles and she found herself unconsciously licking her lips, a bit of her feral nature leaking out. Naruto just lay there, letting his body relax after the work out he'd just given himself, including the weights he had on that was causing him to sweat...and the sun.

"You know Hana-san" he said, startling her out of her trance to see him smirking "if you really find me that sexy you could always come over here..." he trailed off as she blushed furiously making him and Kakashi laugh at her expense.

"Like I'd think that about a brat like you" she huffed, crossing her arms and looking away defiantly only to hear them both snickering at her.

That was this scene that Tsume walked in to twenty minutes later, Kakashi and Hana were lying sprawled out on the grass, apparently asleep while Naruto was sitting up and staring up into the sky, apparently lost in thought for the moment.

She approached with none of them seeming to notice. However the moment she was at arms length Naruto turned to her which surprised her somewhat as she hadn't made a sound as she moved thorough to grass

"Lazing about?" she asked him and he scoffed as Hana chuckled

"He finished his job already" she said to her mother who grinned again

"I know, I saw him carrying in all the bags, and without as much as a groan of discontent. You've got to be the only genin I've ever met who doesn't hate these dammed missions" she said, Naruto just grunted

"I need the money as it is, but the chance to get some training in while doing it is always welcome" he told her in no uncertain terms, she just grinned and sat down next to him while the other two continued to doze

"You're quite the soldier" she said after a moment and he sighed

"Maybe" he said "but then again, following orders isn't the whole picture" he told her and she was surprised by his apparent wisdom

"Perhaps" she agreed "besides, you don't seem the type to respect people for nothing" she said, watching out of the corner of her eye as she shifted

"Not really, there's more than honest ways to get into a position of power, and please have no doubt in your mind that I only respect those who earn it. That might sound strange and I'll probably be killed for it one day, but that's just how I work" he said and Tsume just nodded and decided to enjoy the sun along with them.

Later that day team seven had finally finished all of their chores and were gathering in the garden. The sun was beginning its slow descent from its uppermost point in the sky, though it would remain warm for a little while yet.

Sasuke and Sakura looked as disgruntled as each other for a change and were covered in things neither Kakashi nor Naruto cared to know about

"Have fun?" Kakashi asked them both sweetly, Sasuke just glared at her darkly while Sakura actively growled ferally at the women as they stood before Tsume who simply looked amused as Naruto chuckled

"Are you coming out tonight then Hana-chan?" Kakashi asked Hana who nodded

"Yeah, it's been too long since I've had a night out with some friends, what with the work in the vets and all" she said, Naruto suddenly chimed in

"Look forward to seeing you there then" he said making all three women blink

"Huh?" Kakashi said intelligently and Naruto laughed before tapping his headband

"Old enough to kill, old enough to drink…and other things" he said with a mischievous grin making the three women laugh

"I knew I'd like you gaki" Tsume said and Naruto smiled

"See you tonight then" Naruto said to Hana as the team left the clan grounds to collect their earnings...and take showers.

The sun was slowly making its way down below the horizon, its life giving warmth slowly bleeding away as reds and oranges lit up the sky and highlighted the clouds that now hung in the deep blue of the sky

They walked to the Hokage tower and reported the completion of the mission, Sasuke went off to go and brood over his lack of anything, Sakura pestering him all the way. Kakashi and Naruto left the tower together, Naruto stretched

"I've got to meet Anko-chan now" he said, Kakashi looking sympathetic with him

"I'll have your grave ready for you" she said while patting his shoulder, Naruto just laughed and kissed her on the cheek before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

It was silent in training ground 44, so named for the forty four gates that went around the entire area, better known as 'The Forest of Death' due to its abundance of just plainly dangerous animals and plant life.

The trees were dense and massive, almost all the light from the slowly setting sun failed to penetrate the dense foliage of the canopy the trees made. The light that did was dyed a gentle green that danced as the leaves gently moved and danced in the soft breezes that blew through the dense forest.

The leaves didn't move and not even the insects could be heard throughout the place. Suddenly there was a sharp noise of steel impacting steel and a loud curse before silence reigned again. Again a sudden noise, like the ground erupting, the sound of metal piercing something before it dispersed and another curse as the figure leapt away back into the trees and to relative safety. Anko was panting with exertion, Naruto was playing with her, and slowly wearing her down so she'd make mistakes and just one slip up would be all he'd need to win this game of theirs. She looked around cautiously, not believing that a mere genin could not only have this amount of skill but also be able to keep her on her toes. But she knew this was how Naruto worked, if he was unable to outright defeat a foe either through sheer power or through stealth then he would force the battle into a war of attrition, slowly wearing down the person with his guerrilla tactics until they began to make sloppy mistakes, then he would strike and end the battle

A sudden tap of a foot behind broke her train of thought and was all the warning she got before Naruto appeared behind her with a kunai to her neck

"You shouldn't get distracted" he said in a neutral voice though an undercurrent of playfulness could be detected, Anko could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck and she suppressed a shiver before smirking

"What makes you think I was distracted?" she asked before stabbing the clone in the stomach. She knew this was a dangerous game, but with Naruto's advanced healing rate it would take more than a stomach wound to kill him.

The Naruto she'd stabbed suddenly went up in smoke and she let out a loud curse again. Every time Naruto caught her she'd find a way to wiggle out of it only to find that it was a clone and that the real Naruto was still watching, still planning for his next move.

She moved swiftly through the forest again, hoping to draw him into territory that she was more familiar with but was forced to suddenly jump when she suddenly saw an exploding note held under a weak illusion, the explosion blew the branch apart and she was sent flying backwards. Despite the pain she was more than a little impressed at his plan, he'd known he couldn't fool her with such a weak technique but it was enough to give the note several seconds more to burn out. Had she of been of a lower skill and station she most likely wouldn't be standing if alive at that moment as she skidded to a stop on the ground and flipped up only to freeze as the familiar feeling of cold steel appeared against her throat. There Naruto was, crouched down with her stuck in a half squat as she tried not to force the blade deeper into her throat

"Nice try Anko-chan, but you know how good I am at making plans up on the fly" he said, voice still neutral. Anko grunted

"I give" she muttered, taking a blow to her pride as he removed the blade allowing her to fall back on her ass "bastard" she said in mock anger and Naruto chuckled

"I still won" he said and she scoffed

"If I'd been going all out you wouldn't of" she said

"Of course" he assured her, pulling her to her feet

"Are you coming to the bar tonight?" Anko asked, eyes pleading like a lost puppy, Naruto just laughed gently and patted her head

"Of course Anko-chan, it's not like I have anything better to do with my time at any rate" he said and with that they parted company until that night.

A few hours later and the sun almost gone, disappearing below the horizon, casting a fading gentle orange light on the few fluffy clouds that hung in dark sky, making it seem as if they were aglow with gentle warmth, like embers of a fire. Naruto was walking slowly towards the bar that all jonin's seemed to frequent, the orange light lending a very faint warmth to the cool night air, he was taking it slowly tonight, taking the opportunity to take it slow for once and relax before he arrived.

He walked into the bar, his headband hung lazily around his neck. Walking in he was hit with the scent of smoke and cheap alcohol, the atmosphere was calm and lazy. But Naruto was put on edge by the number of ninja sitting in the bar. None of them spared him a glance however and so he was free to make his way over, silently, to the table where the rest of the Konoha jonin sensei's, plus Anko, were sitting.

"...I'm telling you Kakashi-chan, he's almost as good as me now" Anko was saying to Kakashi excitedly as the other jonin's chatted amongst themselves save for Asuma who looked doubtful as to what Anko was saying, his face saying it all as a partially smoked cigarette hung from his lips

"You can't be serious Anko-san, I'm sorry but he's only a genin" he said and Anko looked at him with a firm glare

"And why not?" she asked heatedly, Kakashi was also glowering at the man

"Yes Asuma-san, he is not your student so I would appreciate it if you didn't speak about him that way" she said with a slight growl and Asuma frowned slightly

"This is more than just professional..." he said softly, looking away from the two women, unfortunately for him Anko heard what he said and in the blink of an eye she was suddenly behind him with a kunai aimed at both his neck and family jewels

"So what?" Anko asked slowly with a slight purr, her darker side coming out to play. However she stiffened when she heard a familiar chuckling coming from behind her

"Now now Anko-chan" the voice gently admonished, as he pulling her arms away from Asuma "killing him won't benefit anyone, that and Kure-chan would be _oh_ so upset" he said, chuckling again at the end, noticing how Anko shivered

"Naru-kun" she growled playfully, her darker side taking her over, it wasn't going back now, oh no, now it wanted to play. Naruto saw it, his own eyes shifted slightly and she gasped as he gently slapped her ass playfully before leaning forwards and growling softly in her ear

"Behave yourself" he said before pulling away, smiling and kissing Kakashi on the cheek as he took the seat next to her that Anko had vacated not two minutes ago. Kakashi blushed underneath her mask at the action before turning to look at Anko who'd only just realised what was going on

"Hey!" she shouted indignantly when she saw Naruto had stolen her seat, she crossed her arms and huffed "that's my seat" she said with a glare and Naruto chuckled again

"Not anymore Anko-chan" he said, a playful glint in his eyes, challenging her

"Well then..." she said, sauntering over to him, her hips swaying hypnotically and Naruto noticed how many of the men's eyes had immediately become glued to her as she moved...just like a snake. He watched her, letting his body relax and his eyes roam her body. Anko moved to him and sat down in his lap, that sultry look in her eyes that could melt all but the strongest of men. Luckily Naruto could count himself amongst those souls.

"I'll just have to sit here then, won't I?" she asked, eyes half-lidded as she looked into his own darkened eyes. Naruto's grin turned dangerous as he leaned forwards and Anko froze, the hunter was quickly becoming the hunted as Naruto's warm breath brushed over her lips

"Feel free" he whispered lustfully and Anko gulped, part of her mind clouding over as the other part marvelled at how well Naruto had turned the tables on her with her own trick. Kakashi coughing into her hand broke them out of their stupor. Anko blushed furiously and leapt off of Naruto who just smiled smugly, having won that little contest, and called out an order for some more sake.

The party continued to talk amongst themselves, with Asuma trying to 'woo' Kurenai, trying being the operative term, as Gai sprouted off about the 'flames of youth' and ended up challenging some random Anbu to a drinking game. Naruto just sat back and watched, drinking slowly as the jonin's talked amongst themselves, only engaging in conversation with only Anko and Kakashi for now. It was to this scene that Hana walked in to

"Hey guys!" she called out over the din of the once quiet bar, quickly walking over and taking a seat next to Naruto she leaned forwards and her and Kakashi engaged in 'catching up' between which Naruto sat quietly, ignoring the world for all intents and purposes.

"So Naruto-san" Hana said suddenly, snapping his attention back to the real world

"Hmm" he replied softly

"What's your plans before the exams?" she asked him and he just laughed

"Not a fucking clue. But for tonight, I'm going to see how much I can drink" he told her with a distinctly 'Anko' look in his eyes,

"Really?" Hana asked, looking ready to accept his challenge

"Yep" he said while finishing off his sake in one gulp. He looked over to see a tipsy Anko cheering Gai on as he and the Anbu took shot after shot of alcohol, trying not to be the first to collapse. He just shook his head in amusement and looked over to Kakashi instead, only to find her watching the same scene; he just shook his head and decided to enjoy the night for once, preferable by challenging a few people to some drinking contests.

"...I'm not drunk" slurred Anko as Naruto walked her back to her apartment, her arm slung over his shoulder as she stumbled along with him

"Of course not Anko-chan" Naruto said sarcastically as he caught her before she could fall after tripping over her own feet. It had been a lively night; apparently because it was Friday the jonin's had been celebrating not having to look after their respective teams for a few days... and Anko had joined in for the hell of it.

"Where's your apartment Anko-chan?" he asked Anko as they ascended the stairs towards the second floor

"114" she slurred, obviously too drunk and tired to stay awake for much longer, Naruto shook his head and walked to the door, reaching into her coat pocket and ignoring her weak struggles and mutterings of 'pervert' he took her key and opened up the apartment, picking her up he walked in and closed the door with his foot. The apartment was small with a living room that had only a coffee table and a sofa, behind that was the kitchen, about big enough for two people to work in, and one bedroom attached to the living room by a door, it had its own bathroom, and there was one down the small hall next to the utility cupboard. He walked over to her bedroom and eased the door open, careful not to wake the sleeping woman. He set her down on her bed, covered with a purple quilt, removing her jacket he ignored her usual state of undress and took of her shoes and skirt as well before placing her under the covers

"Goodnight Anko-hime, sweet dreams" he murmured, kissing her on the forehead gently before taking his leave. He never saw the small frown marring her perfect features.

The sun was still rising, casting a bright orange and red glow over the sky, with the air still cool and chilly from the previous night when Kakashi called the team out to their training field. Sakura looked half-asleep and not all there, her hair sticking up quite comically, Sasuke just looked murderous and Naruto, to no one's surprise, looked raring to go

"Right team" she said before yawning herself

"Drink too much last night Kakashi-chan?" Naruto asked with a fake innocent expression and she shot him a mild glare before turning back to the other two

"Today I'll be teaching you tree-climbing" she said, Sasuke's look got even more murderous and Sakura held up a hand

"But Kakashi-sensei...we already know how to climb trees" she said, voicing Sasuke's less than flattering thoughts. Naruto was chuckling to himself at their stupidity and Kakashi's inability to work at these early hours on a Saturday morning

"If you think it's so funny Naruto-kun then you can show them" Kakashi said, glaring at Naruto proper now.

He just stood up and brushed himself down before walking up to one of the many trees that surrounded this training ground and easily walking straight up to the top of the tree, leaving the other two in awe as he then walked all the way down as well. Kakashi shot him another glare and he held up his hands in a placating gesture as she proceeded to explain to the other two about how to do the tree walking exercise and all.

Eventually the Sakura and Sasuke were doing it by themselves. Naruto was sitting beneath a tree, watching the two of them with a paper bag next to him that was steaming slightly. Kakashi had gone off, probably to blow off some steam thanks to Naruto's jabs and so Naruto had been left, unofficially, in charge while he patiently watched Sakura and Sasuke run up and down the tree.

"Oi!" Sakura suddenly called out, having slipped off the tree for the third time, unlike Sasuke who almost hit his head on his eighth failed attempt

"Hmm?" Naruto said, looking up with a dango stick in his mouth, held with one hand, while he held a book in the other

"Why aren't you doing this?" she asked, hand on her hip as she tapped her foot, looking rather intimidating by anyone's perspective, Naruto just finished chewing, patiently putting the stick down, along with his book, as he resting against the tree behind him, shifting slightly before then responding

"Because, Sakura-san" he said "I have already fully completed this task and can do it almost without thinking. However neither yourself nor Sasuke can do it" he told her

"But surely your chakra reserves..."

"My chakra reserves are extremely large naturally, far bigger than Sasuke's and so much, much larger than yours. And besides, this can only increase your control to a point" he said before going back to his book. Sakura huffed but got back to work as did Sasuke.

A few minutes later Kakashi arrived, looking calmer than she had been earlier but still a bit put out with Naruto. She stood next to him, resting on the tree beside him but making no eye contact and doing everything to ignore him. Naruto sighed.

"Breakfast" he said, somewhat absently, motioning towards to bag even as he devoured his own portion at rather high speed despite his apparent lethargy today.

Kakashi ignored him, but she was extremely hungry at the moment. Having rushed back to her apartment to get something to cure the stupid headache she had then walked back, if only to calm her irrational side back down before meeting Naruto again.

Naruto just ate his share and read his book before stretching out and laying down on the dry ground, closing his eyes he relaxed once again, the only sounds those of the birds, Sakura's cursing and Sasuke's thuds as he struck the ground every so often.

Kakashi eventually couldn't resist it anymore and dug in to the meal that Naruto had brought her, in her mind already forgiving him as she ate the food at speeds that defied even Naruto, mask never seeming to move as she consumed the dumplings.

"How are they doing?" she asked Naruto after her quick, impromptu meal.

"Hmm, Sakura's got far better control than either me or Sasuke at this point, but that's probably because of low chakra reserves. Sasuke won't pick it up for another two or three days I reckon"

"Hmm, how _do_ you know this exercise anyway?"

"Enough genin teams practise it, well, some of the time at any rate"

"Hmm"

Suddenly Naruto blinked his eyes open and sat up

"I need to go meet Anko" he said without any prompting, and so he stood and, with a quick kiss on her cheek, he left Kakashi to look after the two brats that were her charges for now. She just blinked before huffing and leaning back against the tree Naruto had been against to watch the duo.

Naruto flew down the street and nearly dived into Anko's usual haunt. It was really the only place that served any decent dango in the whole village for anything resembling a reasonable price. He spotted Anko in her usual seat and quickly made his way over.

She seemed distracted by something, and so didn't notice his approach which shocked him somewhat, an assassin like her was almost always on high alert.

"Hey Anko-chan" he greeted her as he walked up to her. She blinked and looked up at him

"Oh, hey Naruto-kun" she responded with a slight yawn as he kissed her cheek before taking the seat on the other side of the table. The waitress approached but he politely waved her off.

"You okay?" he asked her as he watched her, eyes radiating nothing but true and honest concern for her, she smiled at him but waved him off all the same

"I'm fine, except for this headache" she replied, putting her head in one hand, still watching him.

"Hmm" Naruto said, not sounding too convinced but he dropped the subject, knowing how venomous Anko would get if he pressed her.

"Has Kakashi-chan taught those brat anything yet?" she asked him as she dug into her new plate of dango and her cup of green tea, much to his amusement at seeing her drinking something as mellow as tea.

"I'm sure Kakashi would say that their more trouble than their worth, but she's taught them, or is trying to teach them, tree walking" he told her as he closed his eyes and leant back.

Anko attempted to eat some of Naruto's dango only to have her hand slapped suddenly away as Naruto looked at her

"Bad" Naruto said with a stern glare, despite the smile tugging at his lips as she pulled her hand away and held it with fake tears

"Meanie!" she shouted childishly while sticking her tongue out at Naruto who almost collapsed in tears as he laughed long and hard at her expression and actions, leaving her pouting.

Naruto eventually got over his laughter and kissed her on the cheek before standing.

"I'd better get back before Kakashi kills one of them" he told her as he pushed the chair in and looked at her "And Anko, I'm here if you need me" he said seriously, making her colour slightly, before he disappeared out of the shop.

He arrived at the training field and whistled in slight amazement at what he saw. Namely that Sakura was standing at the top of the tree looking triumphant.

"Impressive" he said as he came up behind Kakashi who didn't even blink at his sudden appearance

"Hmm, but like you said, only because her reserves are so small" she replied and Naruto hummed in thought

"Yeah well, this exercise will take ages to increase her reserves" he told her, she looked at him somewhat suspiciously

"What are you planning?" she asked and he looked at her innocently

"Why, nothing of course Kakashi-chan, don't you trust me?" he said, his voice far too sweet as Kakashi smothered a giggle at his antics while he walked over to his two 'teammates'.

"Sakura!" he called out to the pink haired girl who was obviously still revelling in her victory, though it was fairly obvious that her chakra levels were running low. She looked down at him and he motioned for her to come down. She appeared to huff but walked down the tree all the same

"What?" she asked somewhat rudely as she arrived in front of him, her arms crossing under her chest in irritation. Naruto just grinned

"Your coming with me" he said before walking away, leaving a somewhat confused Sakura who just blinked a few times

"Come on!" he called after her as he walked off into the forest. Sakura simply obeyed, her mind lagging somewhat behind her body as she did so.

She caught up to Naruto at the edge of one of many small lakes that were present within the forest that surrounded the town. Naruto stood there expectantly

"What?" she asked but was cut off as Naruto suddenly strode out confidently onto the water before looking back at her

"Get changed" he said sharply, she blinked once more

"Huh" was all her brain could come up with

"Come on Sakura-san" Naruto said as he walked back to her "I'm gonna teach you to walk on water since you grasped the other exercise so well, this should also let you build up your chakra reserves a bit more" he told her

"Um" she said, while not disagreeing with his command as she didn't particularly want to get all her clothes soaking wet "I don't have anything to change into" she said quietly and Naruto sighed.

In his mind they were teammates, and as such that meant that, on certain missions, there would be no other choice but to see each other either partially or completely nude. Hell, simply camping together carried that risk.

"Fine, wait here" he said before dashing off back towards Konoha.

He returned not five minutes later with something else she could wear. Sakura silently took them and walked off into the trees to get changed with some privacy.

When she returned in her red bathing suit that Naruto had somehow gotten hold of, Naruto clapped his hands

"Right then, this is the same principle as the tree-walking technique, only real difference is that it requires a constantly changing flow of chakra to keep you stable as the water ripples" he told her, she nodded before looking around nervously, not used to this sort of situation

"Um...how did you?" she asked, pointing at her bathing suit, Naruto just looked at her strangely

"I know where you live, your window was open and it was lying on your bed" he shrugged "wasn't hard" he told her. She blinked once again before just shaking her head and deciding to get going.

It took two hours before Naruto allowed her to finally rest. He was sitting against a tree while watching her struggle to grasp the technique, chuckling to himself as she first strode out with some confidence before plunging into the chilled water not two steps in. She had been more cautious after that first plunge and was now beginning to make some headway.

"Come back!" he called out to her and she walked back onto shore before collapsing

"Slave driver" she gasped as she lay there. Naruto laughed at the statement before pulling out a pill, snack bar and some tea

"Eat" he told her. She gratefully took the food and gulped it down in record speed, sighing as she felt her chakra reserves build back up to normal as he stomach stopped its growling

"Sakura" Naruto said, she looked up at him "how much did you eat before coming out?" he asked her. She looked thoughtful

"Erm, not much really" she told him, he sighed

"Why?" he asked her, she went to answer but he put up his hand "listen Sakura, I don't know why you're so interested in Sasuke, but honestly I don't give a crap. My concern is the fact that you should of had a filling meal before coming to training" he told her rather sternly, she looked ready to argue but no words were forthcoming "If you don't eat properly now then not only will you be unable to train for very long, but you won't recover as quickly. Besides" he said as he shrugged "I personally prefer women who don't starve themselves" he told her "puts more...meat on the bones" he said, wiggling his eyebrows as she blushed furiously

"Fine" she huffed, still covering her face with her hands in embarrassment

"No Sakura, not 'fine', I need you to eat properly or I won't be able to make you any stronger" he told her. She looked down again

"...Okay, I promise" she said quietly and Naruto smiled at her

"Good girl, that's a start and it'll do" he said, kissing her on the cheek causing her to blush before motioning for her to get back on the water. She groaned but did as she was asked.

"This cat is pissing me off" Naruto growled into his mike as he moved unseen through the shadows, stalking the bane of every genin teams' existence

"Get on with it Naruto-kun" Kakashi's voice came back and he growled lowly into the mike, planning some form of revenge for her making him do this _again_

"Got you, you sneaky bastard" Naruto snarled as he leapt at the cat, it fought and tried to scratch him until it looked him in the eyes, it froze in fight

"Don't" he growled and it seemed to nod in understanding as Naruto put it in the cage and ran his hand through his hair "mission complete" Naruto said into the mike. He looked over at Sakura who was obviously doing her best not to laugh at his state. He growled at her and she just giggled harder.

Kakashi and a brooding Sasuke arrived out of one of the bushes and Naruto shot Kakashi a glare that promised revenge, she laughed nervously as she took the cage from him and they walked over to the Hokage's tower.

"Mission complete sir" Kakashi said as she watched the little furball get the life squeezed out of it with no small amount of happiness, a sentiment that the rest of the team appeared to agree with completely.

"Good work team seven" Sarutobi replied, he pulled out a folder labelled 'D-ranks' and was about to start listing them off when Naruto coughed into his hand, he looked up to find Sasuke nursing a bump on his head as he glared at Naruto who was ignoring him completely

"If you don't mind me say Oji-san" he said with a small smile as Sakura and Kakashi stifled a giggle and the Hokage sighed "I believe that we have completed sufficient D-ranks to qualify for a C-rank" he said and the Hokage raised an eyebrow, double checking one of the many folders strewn over his desk

"Hmm, so you have, very well then" he said, handing Naruto a mission folder "it's a low-risk escort mission to Wave" he said, noticing the slight narrowing of Naruto's eyes when he said where it was to, he nodded subtly to Naruto who relaxed again "Tazuna, come in please" he called out and in walked a slightly drunk man with a towel around his shoulders and straw hat on his head, he looked at them with distain, but Naruto spoke up before he could

"May I suggest, Tazuna-san, that you not antagonise a group of trained killers" he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and a bit of KI, Tazuna gulped and nodded

"I'm Tazuna, bridge builder, and I expect you all to defend me with your lives" he said, Kakashi just eye-smiled at him

"Of course Tazuna-san, we'll meet you tomorrow at the designated gate" she said and the man sniffed before walking out as Naruto turned to Sakura

"We need to talk about your training since Kakashi-chan is helping Sasuke" he told the girl who nodded, having become quite used to Naruto being her unofficial sensei over the past three days where she had mostly been learning water walking but a bit of combat here and there. Kakashi groaned as she held her head in one hand

"Why must you say that in public?" she asked him as she grinned

"Aww, I thought you loved me" he whined before leaping away while laughing as Kakashi tried to catch him.

_**The End**_

**Difficult chapter, I'll tell you that much.**

**Please R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The team and client met up at the Eastern gate early in the morning.

The air was crisp and cool this early despite the sun that was rising rapidly into the brightening azure vault of the sky, chasing away the last vestiges of the night as its light banished the last few remaining stars and set the sky ablaze with bright oranges and deep, dark rust reds.

Clouds were slowly gathering in the sky, glowing fiercely like hot embers from the suns strong light, though they did little to offset the growing heat and as such Naruto had forsaken his jacket for now as had Sakura.

Naruto was leaning up against one of the gates great wooden posts that supported the large and rather impressive wooden doors that not only held the leaf symbol all the Leaf ninjas wore, it was also painted green. Not a job he envied doing.

The gates were wide open this early, a welcoming sight for returning Anbu and ninjas in general. Though a great security threat, it could be argued.

The two gate guards looked just about dead on their feet from the twelve hour shift they had done the night before where nothing much had happened, further deadening their brains as they leant on the gate itself, though one looked to have fallen asleep standing, quite the feat all things considered.

Naruto was relaxed despite the slight chill of the air, reading a book he had picked up from the livery earlier while Sakura dosed on the ground. She had only been in training with Naruto for a few days and already she was tired almost all the time from his training, he had given her yesterday off and that had helped, but she still had plenty of sleep to catch up on.

"You two are here early" Kakashi said as she walked up to them, smiling slightly at the sight of Sakura asleep next to the gate post.

"Good morning Kakashi-chan" Naruto said absentmindedly, waving at her half-heartedly, obviously absorbed by his book. Kakashi raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing and took up a position leaning on the other pillar directly in Naruto's line of sight, closing her eyes and leaning back while they all waited for the other member of their team along with their client.

Sasuke arrived at the same time as Tazuna, his permanent scowl deeper than ever from the early morning and the fact that he was the last to arrive.

"Alright then people" Kakashi said, a bit too cheerfully, as she clapped her hands together, snapping Sakura awake, who proceeded to glare weakly at Kakashi with her sleepy eyes.

"Let's go" Kakashi said taking her place in front of Tazuna, Sakura and Sasuke flanking him on either side while Naruto guarded the rear. They had barely taken two steps out of the gate when Naruto suddenly spun around and caught some sort of black blur as it crashed into him, startling everyone.

"Naru-kun~!" it shouted as it impacted Naruto, easily allowing all present to guess as to who it was, knocking him off of his feet and sending him skidding along the ground for a few feet before stopping, a purring Anko lying on top of him, rubbing her head against his chest.

"Bloody hell" he groaned as he pushed himself up on his arms and looked at Anko who seemed quite happy where she was now, all the while purring like some kind of cat. He raised his eyebrow but otherwise opted to say nothing about her action. It wasn't like he wasn't enjoying it, after all.

The two gate guards just looked on, one utterly confused, the other chuckling to himself at the sight the two of them presented.

"I've got to go Anko-chan" Naruto told her

"Hmm..." she replied, obviously not paying him any mind as she rubbed herself against his chest. He sighed and pushed himself up before standing as Anko clung to him until he was standing up again.

"Come on" he said gently, prying her hands away and stepping back as he brushed himself off

"You didn't say goodbye" Anko whined, looking at him with fake tears in her eyes, Naruto sighed dramatically. By about this point Kakashi looked amused, Sakura looked slightly confused, Tazuna was totally lost and Sasuke looked just like he always did

"Fine" Naruto said, kissing Anko on the cheek "I'll see you in a little while Anko-chan" he said, smiling at her. Though he did not miss a slight flicker of something in Anko's eyes, he kissed her cheek once more before walking off

"Come on then" he called out to the others who hurried to catch up with him as he waved goodbye to Anko who stood waving, in an all too exaggerated fashion, back at the gates.

The sun was stronger now, baking team seven as they walked along the dirt path towards Wave. Tazuna looked fine, though his hat probably helped in that endeavour considerably, Naruto was still reading and everyone else was mostly silent due to the heat.

To either side of the team sat great trees that towered above them, holding some of the forest in cool shade with a mixture of dark and light greens that looked like a collage of random greens an artist had chosen. Alas, the high sun meant their shadows did nothing to aid the team.

"So how's your training going Sakura?" Kakashi suddenly asked Sakura out of the blue as they trudged along the dusty path.

"Hmm, I think it's going well, I'm definitely better than I was" Sakura mused to herself, Sasuke frowned, wondering why Kakashi had been training Sakura and not him

"I can imagine, especially if it's Naruto who's been teaching you" Kakashi said, blowing Sasuke's thoughts clean out of the water as Naruto smirked

"What can I say?" he said, looking at them and smirking "I'm just that good" he said, dodging out of the way as Sakura playfully tried to smack him

"You're a bloody slave driver!" she exclaimed as she tried to hit him again

"That may be so" Naruto said as he quickly hid behind Kakashi as Sakura tried to hit him again "but you have to admit I get good results" he told her

"Whatever" Sakura huffed, crossing her arms childishly, Naruto nearly tripped over his feet as he was suddenly reminded of Anko doing exactly the same thing.

The team decided to camp for the night, deciding it was worth taking their time rather than rushing and exhausting themselves, though neither Naruto nor Kakashi missed the slight look of panic in Tazuna's eyes as they made camp. He was obviously on edge, and he had yet to mention why to the team.

Sakura made the meal while Sasuke collected the wood and Naruto hunted down some food. Tents were kind of put up, the clear skies convinced both Naruto and Kakashi to not bother with their tents as it wasn't going to rain. However Sakura and Sasuke weren't willing to take the risk. And Sakura seemed to want some privacy anyway.

The night shift consisted of Naruto and Kakashi who took up guarding the team and client. Sakura needed her sleep thanks to Naruto's regime, and neither of them wanted to be awake with Sasuke, the human ice cube that he was. So they both did three hours each on and off until the sun began to peek over the far horizon and warmth started to bleed into the chilly early morning air, banishing the dew off of the leaves and moss where it had gathered, gently sparkling in the early light as it did so.

The following day they made very good headway considering they were travelling with a civilian, though Tazuna's desperation to get back to his home town may have sped him up slightly considering how twitchy he seemed to be.

They were travelling on the road when Naruto noticed something almost stupidly out of place, namely two puddles on a road where rain had not fallen for the last week or so, at the very least, considering how dry the road was at the moment.

"Hmm, nice weather we've been having recently" Naruto said, a bit too loudly, Tazuna and Sasuke looked at him like he was slightly dumb while Kakashi nodded subtly and Sakura took it for what it was, a warning of some sort. Training, if only for a short while, with Naruto had given her a slight insight into how he functioned on the battle field.

"Yeah" Kakashi replied "hasn't rained at all for at least the last few weeks" she said as the passed the two puddles.

Just as they walked past two figures jumped out of the puddles and attempted to wrap their chain around Kakashi, only to find Naruto already there, blocking the chain

"Idiots" he said coldly and jumped back, letting loose a hail of kunai as he did so.

"Shit" one of the men said, disengaging the chain that was attached to his gauntlet and leaping away, the other couldn't disengage the chain quick enough and so found himself pinned to a nearby tree.

"Take him Sakura!" Naruto shouted out as he shot towards the one who had managed to leap away. The man swiped at Naruto, Naruto ducked and lashed out with a sweeping kick, forcing the man to jump as Naruto came up and slammed a solid punch straight into his jaw, sending the man onto his back. He flipped back up only to be forced to block as Naruto slashed at him with his combat knife, he lashed out with the other hand only for Naruto to back-flip away, landing in a crouch he shot forwards again, the man slashed at him only for Naruto to block his strike, spinning suddenly he caught the man with a back-handed swipe that stunned him for a brief moment, but in that time Naruto managed to get behind him before swiftly knocking him out.

Sakura had engaged her opponent as soon as she heard Naruto's shout, seeing the man was pinned to the tree she moved forwards quickly to try and end it, only for the man to suddenly pull, the chain snapped off and he swung his gauntlet at her, forcing her to jump back as they squared off, watching each other. The man was the first to move as he leapt towards her, once more aiming a swipe at her face, she dodged and she punched him in the gut, hard. He coughed, the air rushing out of his lungs, however he still manage to swipe at Sakura once more forcing her to leap back, giving him enough to recover.

She landed and threw a number of kunai in quick secession as she moved towards him again, he blocked most of them and dodged the rest before moving forwards as well, she ducked quickly under his initial swipe only to see the other claw coming upwards towards her too fast for her to dodge, her eyes slammed shut. Suddenly she heard the man cry out and her eyes snapped open to see that Naruto had kicked him straight in the head, knocking him into a tree where he was out like a light.

Naruto stood back up and sighed

"C-rank my ass" he muttered before pulling Sakura to her feet "you okay?" he asked her and she nodded, feeling embarrassed at her loss, Naruto just smiled reassuringly and turned to look at Kakashi who had just finished tying up the two brothers and sent off a message to Konoha

"Some help Kakashi-chan" he said, she smiled and rubbed the back of her head

"Ah, sorry about that, just wanted to test you" she said before turning to Tazuna "and I believe you owe us an explanation" she said to Tazuna darkly, he gulped

"Well, ah..." he trailed off as Naruto yawned

"It's quite simple, recently Wave has recently been virtually destroyed by the shipping magnate Gato, because of this they have no money, as such Tazuna was forced to tell us that it was a simple C-rank rather than the actually B, or possibly A-rank mission it should of been, correct?" he asked a flabbergasted Tazuna who nodded

"Y-yeah" he stuttered, Naruto just smiled

"Let's go then" he said, a bit too cheerfully, already walking off with Sakura trailing behind him, Kakashi just blinked before sighing and walking after them as did the other two.

Almost four hours later and they had crossed the stretch of ocean that separated Fire country and Wave and were almost at the town when Naruto stopped suddenly, tilting his head to the side as Kakashi also went still.

"What's the matter Naruto-san?" Sakura asked Naruto who sniffed the air then frowned slightly

"Hmm..." he trailed off before his eyes went wide "get down!" he shouted, grabbing Sakura and pulling her down as Kakashi did the same for Tazuna and Sasuke. A massive blade, taller than Naruto, whizzed over their heads to embed in a tree by the water's edge. Naruto and Kakashi jumped up, both ready to battle at a moment's notice just as a well muscled man with bandages wrapped around his mouth appeared on top of the large blade.

"Well" he said, his tone dark and deep "what an honour it is to meet the great Kakashi at last" he said.

"Momochi Zabuza" Kakashi replied, her own tone cold and steely.

"As much as I'd like to kill you for the bounty, you don't think you could just give me the old man?" he said as he crouched down on his blade, hand gripping the handle. Kakashi narrowed her eyes before removing the eye patch over her left eye.

Naruto didn't make a sound; neither did Sakura though Sasuke gasped when he saw the sharingan eye that Kakashi possessed.

"I can't do that" she said and Zabuza seemed to grin before flicking through seals at a very fast rate  
>"Then I'm going to have to kill you" he said as mist began to form all around the team. Completely obscuring their vision as the bandaged man vanished in a blur of speed just as the mist finally thickened.<p>

Naruto held his breathing steady. The increasing KI was simply another mind trick to force them to make errors, next would come the taunting, and then finally the attack. It was the way all hunters liked to play, to toy with their pray before the catch was made. Like a cat playing with a dying mouse.

His eyes flickered around as he stretched his senses to their maximum limits

"Sakura" he said, voice calm but hard, the girl flinched at the sound of his voice

"H-hai?" she responded, he shifted his stance slightly as he thought he saw a movement in the mist

"Remain calm" he told her "take slow, deep breaths and relax your muscles. This is how hunters work, fear is their weapon. None of us will die today" he told her. She nodded and sighed before taking a few calming breaths. Sasuke also did so, though he did it without thinking as Kakashi readied herself to blow away part of the mist.

"Your very confident, brat" they heard Zabuza's voice echo from all around them.

"He's here" was all Naruto said before suddenly spinning and blocked an attack that would have cleaved Tazuna in half. Zabuza looked surprised as did Tazuna, though for completely different reasons.

"Your pretty decent kid" he said, grinning down at Naruto who simply glared back with hard eyes

"And your dead" he said as Sakura stabbed the man in the back. The man dissolved into water and Naruto span around and jumped, just dodging the blade aimed at his legs before he put one foot upon it and leapt over the man, twisting and slashing his neck as he did so.

Kakashi made her move, engaging the man in combat as they began to move closer to the water, the mist beginning to disperse now that Zabuza's concentration was disrupted. However Naruto knew the dangers Mist ninja's proposed when they were on water and so he acted.

He shot towards the lake faster than a genin should be able to move, and tackled the Demon of the Mist just as he knocked Kakashi away and tossed his blade upwards to start a chain of handseals. He never saw Naruto until he'd ploughed into the man's side and sent them both skimming along the water to the other side of the large lake.

Zabuza rolled and sprang up, looking quite murderous while Naruto pushed himself up. Both were silhouettes in the dense mist that was part natural and part not.

"You're gonna pay for that brat" Zabuza snarled, less than pleased about being separated from his blade, whatever the reason.

Naruto just chuckled darkly

"You know, I've been waiting to try this out for some time, the book speaks about a partial transformation that would make me far more powerful, but I can't test it out properly within Konoha, it'd been too obvious and I'm sure I'd be killed for it. But here..." he trailed off and Zabuza watched in surprise as something seemed to shift around Naruto's right shoulder.

Naruto himself was having trouble controlling the darkness now spilling out like black ink down his arm where it was solidifying and morphing into something that looked distinctly demonic. Its biting coldness made it seem as though he had dunked his arm into ice as it took shape.

The arm seemed to become thicker and much, much darker, with spikes rising from the shoulder blade like they had been driven through, and a long, thin blade jutting from his hand

"Boo" Naruto whispered into the air, voice raspy and deadened as he vanished only to reappear before Zabuza, his thin obsidian black katana already singing through the air as it suddenly sliced into the man's flesh with such speed Zabuza barely had any time to register Naruto's movement from in front of him.

Zabuza grunted in surprise and replaced himself with a water clone before retrieving his blade form the surface of the water and turning around just in time to meet a savage blow from the transformed genin that shook his arm and made his bones ache. He pulled away once more and leapt back to the shore, unaware of the jonin standing behind him as she readied an attack, the look on her face quite murderous to be sure.

Naruto appeared, the transformation gone, it had all happened so fast that Zabuza wasn't sure if it was a dream or not before the genin called out

"Everyone hold onto something!" as he himself shot over the startled man and into the tress where he firmly anchored himself to the tallest tree he could find. Zabuza turned just in time to see a water dragon looming over him, dark eyes looking at him as its jaw opened.

"Fuck" he snarled in annoyance as the thing took him into its jaws and sent him right over to the other shore as it smashed him into the surface of the lake, causing a massive swelling that almost swept the team and Tazuna away.

Kakashi rushed over just in time to see yet another shadow, looking quite effeminate and wearing some form of mask, grabbing the man's fallen body and leaping off into the forest faster than she could follow.

She sucked her teeth in aggravation and returned to the other shore where her team was standing. Sakura and Sasuke were both soaked and frozen to the spot, as was Tazuna. Naruto was out of breath and looked rather tired while sitting on the ground, looking rather dry considering what he'd gone through and done.

"Okay" Kakashi said, sending a sharp glare Naruto's way, though he ignored her for now "for now we should get..." she suddenly felt a wave of tiredness flood her and she nearly collapsed. Naruto caught her, quickly replacing her eye-patch as he did so, much to her relief

"Trust you to forget that" he said to her as she drifted off, she just muttered something unintelligible and fell asleep, the last sounds those of Naruto ordering the other two to get moving.

Naruto and the other members of team seven along with Tazuna made good headway to Tazuna's house considering that both Naruto and Sasuke were having to carry Kakashi along in turns.

They eventually entered the village itself and what they saw made Sakura and Sasuke gasp in both shock and horror. The once lively and bustling town that had been one of the centres of trade for Fire country was now a mere shell of its former self.

Buildings sat along the shore, derelict, disused and silent, a sharp contrast to the days where they produced ships daily. Elsewhere people sat and lay in the streets, some dead but many starving and ill. Children hung in doorways to their homes, empty eyes watching everyone on the street, no doubt deciding who they could get away with pick pocketing.

The air stunk of despair, the dead, dying and disease. Tazuna and Naruto strode on as though used to such sights

"Keep up you two" Naruto sharply ordered Sasuke and Sakura, bringing them both out of their shock sharply as they hurried to catch up with him.

They trudged up a slight incline to get to Tazuna's house, through the ground was still as wet as the rest of the surrounding countryside. The house was moderate in size and looked fairly well looked after considering the state the rest of the town was in. Though Naruto doubted it was because the man had money, and more likely he simply fixed it himself.

Tazuna walked up, more spring in his step than the team had seen since they'd met the man, and he knocked on the door three times, sharply. There was the sound of something being dropped followed by running feet and the door was flung open by, obviously, the man's daughter who looked at them all in shock before embracing the man

"Father!" she said joyfully "you made it" she said as she pulled away, a smile gracing her lips as she looked at him. Tazuna laughed and motioned back to the team

"I wouldn't have, if not for them" he told her and she bowed lowly to them

"Thank you very much for bringing my father back here safely" she said to them sincerely. Naruto smiled at her

"It was nothing. But please, may we come in?" he asked politely as he motioned to Kakashi who was slung over his shoulder. The young girl nodded and withdrew, Tazuna entered after her before team seven went in.

Inside the house was much as Naruto had expected, sparse but not so much so that you couldn't live fairly well in the place. Everything was clean and looked in a fairly good state considering the state of the town as a whole.

He managed to get Kakashi up the stairs and into a bed, making sure she was comfortable before making his way back down stairs to where the other two were sitting with Tazuna as Tsunami poured them all tea. He sat next to Sakura with a heavy sigh, leaning back as he rubbed his right shoulder

"Are you okay Naruto-san?" Sakura asked him, he waved her off before leaning forwards as Tsunami poured him a cup

"Thank you" he said, offering her one of his more cheerful smiles. She smiled in return and moved to sit by her father. Though Naruto caught sight of a young boy out of the corner of his eye, hiding in the doorway, he ignored him for now.

"Now, until Kakashi is in a fit state to move around we're going to have to make do ourselves" he told them, Sakura shifted

"But didn't Kakashi-sensei kill Zabuza?" she asked Naruto who hummed as he put down his tea cup and smiled at Tsunami once again

"Delicious" he said, making her blush prettily before he turned to Sakura "make no mistake, such a technique wouldn't of killed Zabuza, and since she didn't return with either his head or any of his blood on her, we must assume that he is still alive" he turned back to the two clients to see them looking quite pale

"You mean...?" Tazuna trailed off and Naruto put a hand up

"You are quite safe for the moment. It is likely that Zabuza was badly wounded, and as such it will take him some time to recover, how long I cannot accurately say, but we have at least a week before we are under any threat. By which time Kakashi-chan will be ready" he said as he stood up and motioned for the two of them to follow him.

He wondered outside the house with the others following him until he reached a small lake before stepping onto the water's surface

"Now" he said as Sasuke looked on slightly stupefied while Sakura listened intently "since we have only a short time, I'm going to run the two of you into the ground to get you to a decent level of skill" he told them. Sakura put her hand up

"Um, what will you be, um, teaching us?" she asked slightly uncertainly as Naruto grinned

"Well, since you already know water walking, I'm going to run you into the ground with physical exercises, while Sasuke learns this water-walking technique" he told them, Sasuke smiled slightly at the thought of learning something this good while Sakura paled slightly. She had seen Naruto train and dreaded the idea of having to go through the same thing for the next week. She wasn't sure if she would survive.

"Get to it" he told them as he quickly explained the basics of water walking to Sasuke who didn't look put out at Naruto knowing something he didn't for once, Naruto then grabbed Sakura and walked off into the forest with her whimpering the whole way in fear.

He and Sakura stopped a little way from both the house and where Sasuke was practising, sounds of his cursing as he fell into the water could be heard on the wind, making Sakura giggle and Naruto grin.

"Right then" he said as he pulled his shirt off and threw it away before standing in front of her "attack me" he said, his tone clipped and serious. Sakura didn't argue, she just let fly at him, entering the academy style of fighting as she attacked him.

Naruto gracefully dodged many of her punches and weak kicks before gliding around her and striking the back of her knees, sending her to the floor as he bounced away, waiting for her to regain her bearings

"Come on Sakura" he said and she turned to him, once again lashing out, he calmly deflected her punch and tripped her up. She rolled and stood almost immediately, he nodded in satisfaction at that before she attacked him once again.

She let her fist fly and he caught it, twisting it as he turned he used her momentum to throw her over his shoulder and into a tree on the far side of the clearing. She groaned as she slumped to the ground, Naruto stood over her

"Good, much better than last time" he told her as he stretched briefly before slipping his shirt back on "get up, I'm not done with you yet" he told her as she groaned and stood up, swaying slightly as Naruto grinned at her

"What now?" she asked, somewhat irritably and Naruto frowned at her

"That's not very nice. But anyway, time for some triple S and then were going to do some combat training. First of all, speed" he said, eyes flashing dangerously as he pulled out some kunai. Sakura gulped, she'd done this once before and it had ruined her outfit

"Get going" he growled softly and she was off like a shot, Naruto cackling as he ran after her.

Six hours later and an exhausted Sakura, soaked Sasuke, and lively Naruto, entered their clients home

"We're back" Naruto called out as he grabbed a towel and passed it to Sasuke who muttered a brief thanks and began to dry himself off as Sakura collapsed in the hallway. Tsunami walked in to see this and opened her mouth to say something before closing it and pointing at Sakura

"Is she alright?" she asked Naruto who just smiled and picked up the pink haired girl

"She'll be fine by tomorrow" he told her as he put Sakura next to the table as dinner was being dished out.

They ate in silence, with the other two too tired out from the day's activities to make so much as a sound as they ate. Both Tazuna and his daughter were also silent, though it was more likely out of worry for the following week than anything. The boy by the door still didn't enter.

Naruto was the first to finish

"Thank you Tsunami-chan, that was wonderful" he told her with a soft smile once more "if you need any help I'm sure my teammates will provide it" he said as his teammates groaned in annoyance and pain as he collected Kakashi's meal and moved upstairs.

He entered the room to find Kakashi sitting up and looking out of the window. He pulled up a chair next to her and sat there patiently

"Naruto-kun" she said as she turned to look at him. He knew that look in her eyes and he sighed

"I know what you're going to say. But as far as I'm concerned I made the correct decision" he told her calmly

"What?" she asked him, her voice rising

"You heard me. I knew his power level and I knew mine. If you had stepped into that trap he was laying then how well do you think we would have done?" he asked her, sounding slightly aggravated himself

"Better than you throwing yourself in recklessly without thinking or being concerned for the safety of either your teammates or the client!" she nearly shouted at him.

Naruto stood up sharply, knocking the chair back. His eyes were hidden beneath his hairline and he appeared to be struggling to control himself. He handed her the food he had brought before looking at her, his eyes dark and angry

"You have no idea what you're talking about" he told her bluntly "you're letting your personal feelings get in the way. I'll send one of the other two to give you your meals from now on" he told her as he pulled away was walked over to the door, pulling it open sharply. He turned to her just before he left

"I've started training them properly, Zabuza is still alive" he told her before leaving, leaving her to sit there while berating herself for acting so out of character.

The next day went on much the same, with Naruto running Sakura into the ground with combat training and increasing her chakra reserves while Sasuke struggled to complete the water-walking technique Naruto had demonstrated so casually both in the fight with Zabuza and when he'd shown him how to do it.

Kakashi had still not gotten out of bed. Her chakra was still rather low and Naruto had essentially told the other two to make sure that she stayed in bed until she was fully rested, regardless of what she said. She didn't mind, it just made her feel even worse for what she'd said to him the night before. She knew that Naruto was careful and extremely perceptive; he wouldn't have just leapt in like that without first carefully planning everything through. But her personal feelings had blinded her, just like he'd said, and now she would have to pick up the pieces and try and make things right with him again, which was never an easy thing to do, especially with someone like Naruto.

That night Naruto did as he had said he would, he had Sakura deliver Kakashi's meal, much to her disappointment.

Later that night Naruto was sat on the roof of the house. His eyes locked onto the starry night sky as the moon rose higher and higher into its depths. Like a thousand diamonds scattered upon a sheet of black silk. He was relaxed, the chill of the night barely noticed by him after so many years spent in the forest, sometimes without any real shelter. He stood.

"Better get going" he muttered to himself and flickered away towards the darker depths of the forest where the moonlight didn't reach the ground thanks to the large trees.

He arrived back in the clearing that he and Sakura usually trained in, and took a moment to gather himself. Settling his emotions and reining in his straying thoughts he began, once again, to concentrate on the darkness that sat deep within him.

It felt cold, as usual, calm and settled. A stray thought of his argument with Kakashi entered his mind and the darkness flared, struggling against his control until he pushed the thought away and out of his mind. He focused once more.

He began to push the darkness out of him once more, a single black dot, darker that even the night sky, formed in front of him. He frowned as he pushed more energy into the dot, forcing it to expand more and more, like a great 2d sphere slowly engulfing reality as it grew. He stopped after a few moments, opening his eyes to the black oval doorway now sitting in front of him.

A gentle breeze had sprung up once again, drawing the cool night air towards itself before forcing it away so that it seemed to swirl around the object that was hanging there in the air like a rip in the fabric of reality itself. Naruto waited a moment.

Suddenly a hand thrust itself through the fabric, as though pushed. Naruto shifted his stance slightly; cautious of whatever was stepping out of the gateway this time. It seemed to struggle, finding it more difficult than the partial level two creature that he had seen last time.

It stepped out as Naruto watched. It appeared much the same as the creature he had pulled through last time only this one was covered in almost intact armour, though it still had several bolts of metal sticking through itself. It was around eight feet tall and looked like some kind of undead giant. It looked at Naruto with empty eye sockets that seemed to be crying blood

"Mortal" it said, its voice held some emotional inflection, more than the last demon to be sure, though it seemed more interested than anything.

"Greetings" Naruto responded, bowing slightly as the creature examined him.

"Yes, you are the one he spoke of. Indeed the darkness has tainted your soul" it said, seemingly grinning at Naruto, though it could have been a trick of the light "you are strong enough to wield it, it has tainted your flesh and still you live" it continued, motioning to Naruto's right shoulder. Naruto nodded

"Indeed, I believe a partial level one transformation was achieved" he told the thing which inclined its head as though searching for something it couldn't quite see

"Hmm, indeed you speak the truth human. Most interesting that a soul such as yours should carry such a taint" it said "you will do well to learn further. Your power is still in its infancy and as yet can do little to nothing" it told Naruto who nodded, heeding its words.

"You will inform your master?" he inquired as the creature took a step back into the portal, its time on this plane of existence swiftly vanishing. It nodded

"Indeed mortal, they shall be most interested in your progress. I eagerly await our next meeting, Naruto" it said before vanishing completely.

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair before leaping off to get back to the house before it was time for shift change. The creatures voice still ringing through his head as he waited for Sakura to take over, his mind alight with ideas and plans.

The third day came and went as quickly as the others. Naruto left the other two to their own devices as he took to guarding Tazuna while helping out with the construction of the bridge.

"Where do you want me?" he asked the man who blinked at him

"Huh?"

"Where do you want me to help?" Naruto clarified

"Oh, you could help the guys at the far end of the bridge, they need the wood here" Tazuna replied, pointing to several rather large beams sitting on the bridge. Usually it would take several men to lift them. Naruto rolled up his sleeves and formed a shadow clone that picked up the heavy piece of wood along with him as they carried it over to the other side of the bridge with all the builders and Tazuna looking on slightly stupefied.

Late that same day he had gone on a trip with Tsunami down to the town to pick up supplies that one of the shop owners had managed to hold on to despite Gato's thugs nearly destroying his shop several times.

They walked down the street. The air still damp and smelled rotten despite the bridge now being so close to completion. People wandered around like zombies, shuffling this way and that as though their very life had been sucked out of them by the bane of their existence. Tsunami kept her eyes forwards, not as used to such a sight as her father or Naruto, the many people looking starved or homeless. Naruto felt a hand dart into his back pocket.

He spun around and caught the young girl before she could flee. Tsunami walked on, too focused to realise he had stopped walking beside her. Naruto knelt down before the girl

"L-let me go!" she nearly cried, obviously fearing him like he was death himself. Naruto pulled out some money and handed it to her along with several energy bars he kept on himself at all times. She looked at them and then back up at him as he smiled at her and ruffled her hair

"Good luck kid" and with that he turned around and caught back up with Tsunami, leaving the small girl standing there stupefied and quite a few other people watching him with desperate eyes.

They approached the shop in silence only to hear the sounds of shouting and cursing from inside the run down building. Naruto moved forwards, kunai out and at the ready as he moved up to the door and listened

"Give us the food or me and my men are going to get a taste of your daughter here" one man said, a young girl was crying, obviously stuggling against her captor

"Good damn it!" the owner of the store shouted at them "fucking take it, just leave me and her the alone!" Naruto decided to intervene.

He kicked the door in, the hinges snapping as the door hurtled inwards, striking two of the men and sending them to the floor as the third, the one holding the man's daughter, looked at him in shock.

He didn't look for long, Naruto's kunai struck him between the eyes, sending in backwards as the girl rushed out of his loosened grip and ran to her father who embraced her and pulled her behind the counter as one of the bandits stood up

"Who the fuck...?" was as far as he got before a second kunai found his throat, sending him back in a spray of arterial blood and slickened the floor as the last one stood. Naruto rushed him, drop kicking him into the wall and feeling his ribs crack before plunging an elongated kunai into the sods chest.

Everything was silent for a moment.

"Bastards" Naruto spat, breaking the silence as he pulled his blades out of the bodies and cleaned them up. The man, still clutching his shaken daughter to him, stood up and looked at Naruto who now had blood on him from the arterial spray.

"T-thank you" he said, looking shaken and a tad ill from all the blood on the shop floor

"No problem, it's what I'm here for after all" Naruto told the man "sorry about the mess" he said, the man just shook his head absently as Tsunami walked in. She took one look at the bodies and ran, her quiet sobs as she left the shop pulling at Naruto as he watched her leave.

He sighed and collected what they had come for before removing the bodies and destroying them before cleaning up the blood to make sure the bandits wouldn't think that it was the shopkeeper who'd killed their comrades in arms. The man had thanked him profusely after he'd gotten over the shook and the daughter, much to Naruto's surprise, and kissed him in thanks while blushing furiously, muttering something about her first kiss.

Naruto had smiled at her and told them both to stay safe before returning home with the food they had originally come to collect.

That night was odd. Tsunami was oddly quiet and seemed withdrawn somewhat; she kept on glancing at Naruto out of the corner of her eye while everyone else sat there mostly oblivious.

Naruto just ate his dinner quickly

"I'm gonna take first watch again alright?" he told his two teammates who just nodded, not noticing anything strange yet. Naruto moved past Tsunami, his hand rested on her shoulder for a brief instance before he moved into the kitchen. Not a few moments later there was a sudden crash.

Naruto was back in the room, kunai out, before anyone had a chance to even realise what was happening

"This is so stupid!" the young boy shouted. Naruto just frowned at the outburst and leant on the door frame; twirling the kunai around one finger as he watched the boy tremble in, what appeared to be, rage.

"What is it kid?" he asked with a cool detachment

"You can't beat Gato!" the boy shouted

"Inari" Tsunami tried to soothe him, but the boy was having none of it

"No! They'll just die, like all the others! You have no idea what we've gone through!" Inari continued to shout.

"Kid" Naruto said as he slammed the kunai in the door frame with a dull thud as he moved over to the kid before kneeling down to his height "I know suffering" he told him simply "I've sought acceptance my whole life and spent almost my entire life being ignored and living by myself" he told Inari who was sniffing as he fought to hold back tears as Naruto put his hand on the child head and smiled gently at him

"Don't worry Inari-san, we'll get Gato and his thugs. No one needs to suffer needlessly for someone else's greed. Okay?" he said, Inari nodded slightly, wiping at the tears running down his face

"But..."

"And then, when your old enough, you can become strong enough to protect those you love yourself" he said, closing his eyes and smiling at the boy who smiled shakily back

"T-thank you, Naruto-san" he said and Naruto just smiled and ruffled the boys' hair before walking out of the house.

The sky was pitch black and the moon had risen by the time Naruto moved back into the house, as silent as a spectre as far as everyone was concerned.

He moved past Kakashi's room where Sakura was also asleep, the smaller bedroom where Sasuke was sleeping along with Naruto's stuff, though he hadn't touched it at all yet. He arrived at the end of the hall; the bedroom door was slightly ajar as he moved into the darkened room.

The pale moonlight streaming in from the open windows illuminated the sparse room. It was filled with memories from a life past, from a jacket that was hung on the wardrobe to a photograph of them together, all present and memories of the same man.

The light bathed its sole occupant in pale luminescence that set her pale skin aglow with its soft, cool silvery light. She was covered by only a thin sheet, the night not yet befit of all its warmth, and the house was kept warm enough anyway. Naruto moved over to the bed silently before crouching down before her as she faced the window, his silhouette blocking the light from her troubled face.

She opened her eyes and looked at him as he watched her, his eyes calm but caring

"Naruto-san" she whispered as she stroked his cheek while tears began to gather in her eyes. Naruto just carefully wiped them away

"Shh" he quietly soothed her "it's okay now" he told her as she began to sob quietly. He climbed onto the bed and wrapped her up in his arms as she gripped his shirt and cried while he gently rocked her, murmuring sweet nothings into her ear as he did so.

The fourth day passed by with the same routine, with Kakashi still confined to her bed via Naruto's orders and Naruto still choosing not to speak to her, having Sasuke and Sakura bring her meals to her rather than himself.

Both Sasuke and Sakura had made rather good progress considering that they were left exhausted at the end of each and every day. Sasuke managed to get the water-walking down so continued to practise to perfect it. Meanwhile Sakura had improved by leaps and bounds physically and in her combat abilities under Naruto's intense regime of torture, as she liked to call it.

Both had come to see Naruto as something more than just a teammate. Sakura thought of him as a teacher, not unlike Kakashi, as did Sasuke, which was odd considering how he'd been concerned only about how powerful Naruto was before this mission.

The following morning Naruto was awoken by the sun. He had fallen asleep while practising several new techniques of his; as such a rather large clearing was now present, the many fallen trees attesting as to why there had been a sudden increase in space in the vicinity around Naruto.

However something felt off, he opened his eyes and looked over to see a young...girl? Slowly making her way around the clearing, picking herbs as she went. Naruto groaned and sat up; she didn't seem too startled by his sudden movement

"Are you okay?" she asked and Naruto groaned as he rubbed his neck

"Hmm, I'm fine" he replied as he stood and stretched, his muscles stiff from lying on the hard ground. "What are you doing out here?" she asked him

"Training"

"Why?"

"To become stronger. So I can protect those I care about and fulfil my dreams" he said

"I see" she said, she seemed pleased with his response. He frowned again and glanced at her once again

"Why are you collecting herbs?" he asked her

"Oh, my friend got himself hurt fighting off some of Gato's thugs" she said in that same soft tone. He hummed in thought, still feeling as though he was missing something.

"Oh well, my names Uzumaki Naruto" he said, holding out his hand

"Haku" she responded, shaking his hand delicately. Naruto smiled at her

"Well then, I'll see you soon Haku, oh, and please tell your friend to not go near the bridge" he said, noticing her slight tensing. He smiled; she was the one who had saved Zabuza then. Well, at least now he knew his enemy.

The fifth day came and went in the same routine. The sixth day arrived

"Go on you two, I'll catch up later" Naruto told his two teammates, Sasuke just nodded and made his way out to the lake in the forest, Sakura was less sure

"Are you sure?" she asked Naruto who just smiled at her

"Go on Sakura-chan, I just need to talk to some people" he said and she nodded before taking off after Sasuke.

Naruto made his way up the stairs to Kakashi's room. He had never really stepped inside the upper floor of the house, preferring to sleep under that stars and moon whether he was keeping watch or not.

He walked up to her closed door and knocked before pushing it open. Kakashi was sitting up in her bed, though she had a book in front of her for a change, she wasn't wearing her jonin uniform as usual but had borrowed something more comfortable from Tsunami, a loose white shirt and grey bottom.

"Naruto-kun" she said, somewhat surprised at his sudden appearance in her room. He calmly sat down in the chair beside her bed and leant forwards, resting his hands in his lap as he waited for her to say something.

Kakashi coughed, looking rather uncomfortable

"Well?" Naruto eventually asked. Kakashi frowned

"What do you mean 'well'?" she asked, sounding rather peeved though for the wrong reasons.

Naruto sighed and stood up before turning to leave. Kakashi's eyes went wide and she quickly grabbed his arm before he could leave. He stood still as she held him

"Don't" she said quietly "I'm sorry" she said, Naruto just nodded and pulled away from her. She sat there as he looked at her.

"I shouldn't have said those things to you. I know that you wouldn't have done that without thinking it through first. I guess that my personal feelings got to me. Sorry" she said, apologising again, Naruto gave her a small smile and kissed her cheek

"Get better" he told her "and don't leave your bed" he said as he left her alone, feeling like a heavy burden had been released from her heart.

Finally the Day of Judgment had arrived. Naruto awoke to the sounds of smashing and cursing followed by a scream that was certainly made by Tsunami. He groaned and flipped out of bed, grabbing his stuff as he leapt out of his window and flipped up onto the roof before making his way to the front of the house where two ronins were standing with Tsunami in their grip while Inari stared them down.

Naruto sucked his teeth in annoyance; this day just hadn't been going well so far

"Just kill the brat and lets go" one of the men said to the other who grinned sickeningly and pulled out his blade before starting to move towards Inari.

He never heard his friend dying behind him, nor noticed the blade entering his field of vision until it had already slicing through the flesh of his neck.

Naruto stood behind the fallen man, blood on his clothes as he wiped his blade clean

"Stealth, a ninja's best and most reliable weapon" he said to himself before looking over at the mother and son who were embracing now

"Are you two alright?" he asked as he slipped the blade back into its holster

"Y-yes, thank you Naruto-k-san" Tsunami said. Naruto just smiled at the slight slip of the tongue

"That was so cool Naruto-niisan" Inari said, looking quite impressed while Naruto just laughed gently, ruffling the kids hair

"If you say so Inari-san, now then, I need to go" he said before taking off towards the bridge, the cool morning air whipping past his face as he moved swiftly through the trees.

He arrived on the bridge to find Kakashi already engaging Zabuza in combat, Sasuke being held in a dome of ice mirrors, and Sakura standing guard over Tazuna, looking quite sure of herself despite all that was going on around her.  
>"Let's go" he muttered to himself as he stepped into the thick mist, adrenaline already pumping through his veins.<p>

THE END.


End file.
